The Devil Within (Season 5 remodeled)
by MoulinRouge3532
Summary: Alison's return to Rosewood inflicts each of the liar's life in an individual way. Whilst Emily has to deal with her undying love, Aria will go down a dark path and she's taking a few people with her. Hanna has to wriggle herself out of a love triangle and Spencer must do anything in her power to keep her family together after she finds a couple of skeletons in their closets.
1. Like mother, like dAugther

**The Devil within**

**A Pretty Little Liars Fanfiction**

**Set after 4x24 "A is for Alive"**

* * *

**Title: **The Devil within

**Author: **Myself

**Co-Author: **-

**Fandom: **ABC Family's Pretty Little Liars

**Pairings: **Spoby, Emison, Haleb, Ezria, Tranna

**Spoilers: ** SE04 &amp; SE05

**Posting: **Romance/Drama/Mystery

**Rating: **MA

**A/N: **All characters of Pretty Little Liars belong to Sara Shepard and ABC Family ©

**Synopsis: **Alison's return to Rosewood inflicts each of the liar's life in an individual way. Whilst Emily has to deal with her undying love, Aria will go down a dark path and she's taking a few people with her. Hanna has to wriggle herself out of a love triangle and Spencer must do anything in her power to keep her family together after she finds a couple of skeletons in their closets.

* * *

**This is my official version of Season 5. There'll be a few elements of the series, but the main storyline will be my own. Feel free to leave your opinion **

**Since English is not my mother tongue, you'll probably find some mistakes, which, hopefully, you won't mind. You can point them out, ignore them, laugh about them, etc.**

* * *

_**2 days after the finale … **_

**EMILY**

Emily Fields couldn't decide whether she was happy or not. Frankly, there were so many different kinds of emotions spiraling through her head right now that it seemed almost impossible to decide on only one prevalent feeling. She was scared for Alison. Having her back in Rosewood meant that A – whoever it may be – would have an easier access to her whereabouts. Leaving Ali alone for only the split of a second would put her into incredible danger. Alison DiLaurentis promised to return after a very long and intense discussion with her former best friends and only after they managed to put up a plan that would protect her from her anonymous enemy. Also, for now her existence must stay a secret. Emily could only imagine the mental stress Ali would have to go through if it was revealed that she was still alive. After all, the reckless blonde had an obvious majority of enemies rather than allies. One opponent at a time was already enough to cope with.

Emily had always felt protective of Alison, even more so now that she really was in danger. It was a completely different dimension of 'responsibility' having to take care of her presently. A undoubtedly knew that Alison was back in Rosewood and it wouldn't take long for him/her to figure out the exact coordinates of her habitat. Heck, that maniac is better equipped than the CIA. Hence certain measures had to be taken in order to keep him/her away from Alison.

But Emily wasn't only scared_ for_ Alison, but she was also scared _of_ her, or rather of her feelings for her.

When Paige came around, Emily was finally able to put her relationship with Ali behind. It made her realize that even after losing something you've once cared so much about that the mere thought of it made your heart crack, you'll have the ability to love and feel loved again. Now with Paige gone, old feelings started to surface, even though Emily had been doing a good job on suppressing them so far. She hoped it'd go away after she would have gotten used to Ali's presence.

She just felt like the barricade that prevented her from even thinking about Alison_ that_ way, namely Paige, was now completely gone and gave her feelings access to overwhelm her again. However, Emily had become so much stronger over the past couple of months. Even though there might still be some hidden feelings for Alison in the back of her head, she wouldn't give in to them as easily as she once did. She …

"Ms. Fields, would you mind coming back to reality?" The voice of her teacher immediately snapped her out of her dreamy state.

"Uh… yeah … sure, sorry." _C'mon, Emily, pull it together_ – she thought to herself. _This can't throw you off again._

_**A**_**RIA**

Aria Montgomery went through a lot. She watched her family fall apart, dealt with the death of a friend, an anonymous psycho and concealed the relationship with her former English-teacher as long as possible. However, _this_ was different. She had never ever felt so helpless and incapable in her life before. It was as if her whole body was paralyzed and her brain in a constant state of emotional suppression.

Might as well be due to her being awake for almost 24 hours and not having eaten something in more than a day.

A great spectrum of noises surrounded her … bleeping devices, doctors talking to nurses, patients coughing and sneezing and the rolling of hospital cots. She fixated the erratic movements of the ECG-line and watched as Ezra Fitz's chest rose with every breath of air.

He looked peaceful, she thought. She tilted her head a bit. It almost looked like he smiled. Maybe he was dreaming? Were people in a coma even able to dream? And if so, what did he dream about?

A gentle squeeze on her shoulder made Aria turn. It was Spencer.

"Any good news?" She sat down next to her friend and put a cup of coffee and a bag of pastries on a desk nearby. "You should eat something. Your blood sugar levels will drop."

Aria looked at her for a second then focused her eyes on Ezra again. "The doctors said there hasn't been a major change in brain activity so far."

"Well … That does not have to mean anything. There have been plenty of people who woke up from a coma, even after years. What have the doctors said about his probable prognosis?"

"They don't know!" Aria said almost angrily.

Spencer nodded, acknowledging the fact that Aria wasn't really keen on discussing Ezra's medical condition.

"What are you thinking right now?" she asked, trying to sound as comforting as possible.

Aria shook her head. "I don't know … I … I feel responsible for this. I mean, I know I am not, but I do feel like I could've prevented this if I had behaved differently. Taking this bullet was his way of proving his love for me, because I was too stubborn to believe him."

"Well, you had every reason to not believe him. After all, he did lie to you about his agenda and his relationship with Alison. Even though his motives have changed, when he first met you, his intentions were selfish and ruthless. He basically used you like a book … Sorry for that comparison."

"I know, I know. I am not defending him on that part. I had a right to be angry at him but then again he told me everything in the end, he wanted to make up for what he did, but I refused to let him. I wanted him to leave Rosewood,, forever. But I can't stop thinking that this all my fault. I know I am not being rational, but I think no one would be in this kind of situation."

"Yes… I think I wouldn't feel any different if it was Toby. But sooner or later, you will have to go on with your life, Aria. Ezra would want you to do that. It does not have to mean that he will die, you just … you know, prepare for the worst."

The mere thought of the possibility of Ezra being really gone for good made her heart ache.

"I always loved him", she silently said, tears welling up in her eyes. "I just wish I had the chance to tell him that one last time."

_**A**_**LISON**

Alison DiLaurentis couldn't enjoy being back in Rosewood. Constant fear accompanied her wherever she went. She wouldn't leave the house. She didn't even want to open her window. She spent most of her times sitting on Hanna's bed in silence, waiting for her friends to come home. She couldn't stay at her own house because she wasn't ready to tell her mother yet that she was back. She figured it would be better if she didn't know. Hence she stayed at Hanna's.

She doubted that she'd ever get her old life back and that thought made her hate herself so much. Because frankly, she had fooled people so often that it had only been a matter of time until someone would've stroke back. She wouldn't be surprised if she turned someone into a mentally disturbed murderer.

The question of why she'd come back kept reappearing in her head. It wasn't safe for her in Rosewood. She practically put herself on a silver plate. All A had to do was to pull the trigger.

She thought she had left her old life behind, thought she could move on somewhere else, far away from all of her problems, but wherever she went, A seemed to find her. It was like a grudge that followed her around no matter where she'd go.

So, somehow she had come to terms with the fact that she could either spend her whole live running away or trying to fight back. The old Alison would immediately have chosen the latter, but the old Alison was long gone. She had lost all of her power and dominance. She was just a little girl, scared of the monsters under her bed.

Sometimes Ali wished A should've just finished what he/she started. But if A really was some mentally disturbed person, they would have continued torturing her friends and Ali wouldn't have wanted to die knowing that.

She let her fingertips wander over the smooth silk of Hanna's bedding. There were no words that could describe the loyalty of her friends. Alison did think she deserved a second chance, but she couldn't understand how the girls would risk their own lives in order to save hers. Maybe they didn't know how much it endangered them to protect her. When it all started they were just tracking down an anonymous crazy person that liked playing little games, but now they were dealing with a downright criminal. She was almost impressed by their willingness to protect the prey against the hungry predator.

Maybe they'd succeed. Maybe together, they'd be able to bring down big A and they'd close this case once and for all. Maybe there was chance to be happy again … Maybe ...

**H**_**A**_**NNA**

When Hanna walked through the streets of Rosewood, accompanied by Travis, she couldn't believe her eyes when they fell upon someone that had vanished long ago. She put down her sunglasses and let go of Travis hand. He just looked at her in confusion.

"Lucas?" Hanna grabbed the arm of a tall guy with black, curly hair.

"Wha … Hanna?" He almost dropped the parcel he held in his hands.

"What are you doing back in Rosewood?"

"A friend of mine … He wanted me to visit him for a while. He's … got problems."

Hanna raised an eyebrow. His behavior seemed somewhat strange. "Problems? What kind of problems?"

"Well, problems that I can't really talk about, because they are private." He answered, this time with more certainty.

"Uhm okay? Well, I hope your friend will resolve his … uhm, problems. Anyhow, since you're back in town, do you want to grab a coffee sometime? Catch up a little? Things have been crazy around here."

Lucas hesitated for a moment. "Uh, yeah sure. Just gimme a call whenever you are free." He managed a reasonably authentic smile.

He then hurried away, still clinging to the parcel in his hands and left back a quite confused Hanna and Travis.

"Okaaay, what exactly was that about?" Travis asked. "Who is he?"

"Oh, Lucas? He used to be a friend of mine. He had a hard time in high school and we met at uh …" Hanna wasn't very keen on telling Travis she once went to a support group that talked about their refusal to have sex before marriage, just to please her boyfriend at that time. She didn't want to talk about her relationship to Sean in general, so she decided to lie. "I've met him at the prom. He made photos for the yearbook."

Now it was Travis time to raise an eyebrow. "Uh, okay. So were you two guys … "

"No! ... no, ...He was just a friend and I felt sorry for him. He also helped me get through a hard time. So we were both kind of helping each other out. Haven't seen him or heard from him since he left Rosewood to be homeschooled. But he was always nice to me and Caleb. He helped him too."

Travis nodded then he smiled and took Hanna's hand. They both continued to stroll along the streets of Rosewood.

**SPENCER**

The only thing Spencer wanted to do when she got home was to fall into her bed and sleep till the sun would rise in the morning.

Alison revealing to hear that Spencer was indeed innocent and never hurt her friend, took a load off her mind, but having her back now also meant that there were tons of new problems to deal with, trying to protect her from A being on the top of that list. Spencer started her research right after the girls had managed to pursue Ali into staying in Rosewood and since then put all of her energy into that. The only time she took off was when she visited Aria at the hospital. Except for that none of the girls had seen her the last 2 days. She almost felt like a hypocrite trying to get Aria to not neglect important things such as eating and sleeping, since the only thing she consumed in those 2 days was a gallon of coffee.

She had made a list of people, including all Rosewood residents and former residents that were or could be somehow in connection to Alison

She ruled the ones out that, as she has been told, were at the police station that night, which would include her sister, her parents and CeCe Drake, who obviously got convicted for murdering Darren Wilden.

Then she crossed those from the list, who were with her that night, which would include herself, Alison, the girls and Ezra.

Then of course she put her attention on the males, since whoever shot Ezra seemed to be too strong and athletic to be a woman.

In the end she narrowed her list down to 3 possible suspects, who may not be "Upper A", but who definitely could have been the guy that shot Ezra on the rooftop:

The first was Jason DiLaurentis, who did not only have a motive to fight against his sister, but also didn't have a watertight alibi, since the rehab facility he should've been in closed 2 years ago, so yes, Jason DiLaurentis was definitely amongst her main suspects. Furthermore he was athletic and muscular, so he could've easily made that jump.

The second one was Noel. Even though he was believed to have helped Alison and was allegedly elsewhere when the girls were on the rooftop, Spencer still couldn't trust him. Besides Alison mentioned that he had secrets too, so he was everything but innocent.

The third one was Wren. The girls never got a real affirmation that he had anything to do with Alison when she was still knowingly alive. However the connection to Melissa and Mona was enough to put him onto this list. Even though the thought of him being A was somewhat far-fetched, Spencer couldn't lose the feeling that he was involved in everything in some sort, much like her sister.

Maybe he was on the good side and helped Alison? Spencer knew everything she noted down were wild speculations but they made sense in some way and that was reason enough to consider them to be potential answers to all those burning questions.

But then again, what if whoever was on that rooftop, wasn't A? What if Ezra or Alison were the ones they needed to be protected from?

Spencer would probably go crazy with this stuff, but there was nothing in the world she wanted more than to get this over with once and for all.

**EMILY**

When Emily noticed police cars at the DiLaurentis house her heart skipped several beats. Her immediate assumption was that they found Alison, or rather what would be left of her. Adrenaline poured into her veins and she ran as fast as her legs would carry her.

She almost tripped, when she stormed to the front door of the Marin's house. However, she didn't take the time to observe the object that almost made her hit the ground.

When she reached her room, she found a surprised Alison. "What happened? Why are you so out of breath?"

Without saying a word, Emily almost knocked both of them off her bed, when she hugged Alison as tightly as she could. "It's nothing, I am just glad you're here." Alison hesitated at first and gave her friend a frowning look, but then hugged her back.

Emily realized a minute later just how sudden and unexpected that emotional reaction was and almost felt ashamed of how she had behaved. Nevertheless she didn't want Alison to know that the police was parking in front of the DiLaurentis house. It would only agitate and stress her.

"So what exactly happened to you?" Alison was still confused.

"Nothing. I was just sprinting a little. You know, I have to stay fit and so on, since I haven't been swimming in a while." She couldn't even try to sound honest, especially because Alison always saw right through her.

"Okay … and now the true version, please?"

Emily bit her lips indecisively. "I was concerned about you."

"Yeah, I get that, but why?"

"I thought something had happened to you."

Alison rose from Emily's bad and walked towards the girl. She softly took her hands and looked her straight into the eyes. Her look hadn't changed over the years, even though she did. Those blue eyes still symbolized her sheer power and dominance over someone. "I can deal with the truth."

"Promise me you won't get upset, alright?" Emily led Alison to her bed and they both sat down slowly.

Alison nodded in response, still fixating her friend with those steel blue eyes.

"There's obviously an investigation going on in your house. The police is parked right in front of your porch."

Even though Alison tried to stay cool, it could be seen that the message scared the hell out of her.

"Maybe it hasn't even got to do with A", Emily went on, hopelessly.

"Oh please. Don't try to sugarcoat it. They obviously got a clue from A. I knew it wouldn't take them long to find me. I should've known it was a mistake to come here." Her voice suddenly sounded panicked and she made an attempt to stand up.

Emily pushed her down softly. "Alison! Calm down… We do not know for sure if they are here because of A."

"Why else would they be here?" Alison's voice became significantly louder, her eyes filling with tears.

Emily was almost shocked seeing the once so strong woman losing control of her emotions so easily.

"Maybe they found something, I dunno. Please Alison, calm down, I am here for you. Spencer, Hanna and Aria, we are all here for you."

"You don't know what it's like to run away all the time and never feel save. You can't begin to imagine what I did to stay away from Rosewood as long as possible."

"Alison!" Emily pulled her into a hug again trying to calm her overanxious friend. "It'll be good. I am here for you."

Alison sobbed into the fabric of Emily's pullover, but after some time passed she managed to regain control of her emotions.

"I will try to find something out, okay? You stay here, close the curtains and wait."

Alison nodded. Before Emily was out of the door, Alison hugged her tightly. "Thank you, Em. I wouldn't know what to do if I you weren't here." Emily caught herself enjoying Alison's affectionate behavior a little too much and let go before her brain would jump to any assumptions. "Anytime", she said and left.

When Emily approached the DiLaurentis mansion, she immediately recognized Detective Holebrook's voice. He seemed to be talking to someone, whom Emily couldn't see from her position. However, getting closer to the alleged crime scene would automatically make her a suspect again. Emily couldn't even count the times the girls had been questioned by the police when it came down to anything that had to do with the DiLaurentis family.

She tried to recognize the other person's voice. It was definitely another man, but who?

Emily risked another few steps closer and what she saw made her jaw drop.

_**A**_**RIA**

"Ms. Montgomery?" A young female doctor entered the patient room, accompanied by a slightly older man with an identification badge.

She went straight to Ezra's bed, checked his vital signs and wrote them on a chart. She glimpsed at Aria and wondered who that girl was. Was she his daughter? Sister? Girl cousin? She seemed to care an awful lot about him, so they had to be very close. He seemed to be too young to be her father, so she ruled that one out.

"May I ask you about your relationship to Mr. Fitz?" The officer asked.

"Why would it be in your interest to know that?"

"It is relevant to the investigations. Mr. Fitz has been the victim of a crime and we need to ask anyone present the day he was shot."

Aria noticed the doctor looking up from her chart and looking into her direction.

"He was my English teacher", she answered nonchalantly.

"I doubt that a student would spend an entire day in a hospital just for her teacher. Ms. Montgomery, you know that lying to a police offer is illegal, do you?"

Aria hesitated. After all, she hadn't got any other options than to tell them what they wanted to hear. Her relationship with Ezra must've been known to the local police department long before.

"We were in a relationship."

"Were? What happened?"

"We broke up." She tried to stay as cool as even possible.

"And why did you break up?"

"We thought it was time for a break."

"Uhu, okay." He put some notes down and frowned. "Just how long have you and Mr. Fitz dated, Ms. Montgomery?"

"I don't think that this is relevant to the case." Aria was starting to feel a little pressured.

"We do think so. According to confidential information we received from an anonymous person, your romantic involvement with Mr. Fitz used to be illegal."

"I don't have to listen to this." Aria knew she had no right to run away from the truth, but being questioned by the police concerning the attempted murder of Ezra Fitz was enough pressure to make her do so.

"Ms. Montgomery, if you wish to discuss this matter in private, we can reschedule this conversation."

Aria ignored his words and stormed out of the patient room. She knew she had to be deal with this sooner or later, but right now she preferred _later_.

After leaving the hospital she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. New text message.

_"Now he is the one getting taught a lesson – A"_

**SPENCER**

When Spencer woke up it was almost 7pm. She rubbed her eyes and yawned. It took her almost 5 minutes to notice a piece of paper on her desk, which she later identified as a letter – there was no name on it, just the address of a post office.

She was just about to rip it open, when she hesitated for a moment. She then opened the door of her room and shouted downstairs "Mum?! Did you put a letter on my desk?"

It took a while until her mother answered. "Yes, sweetie! It arrived about an hour ago."

At least A didn't personally deliver it. Spencer frowned. She closed the door again and proceeded with opening the letter. The address seemed to belong to a post office in London. It said:

_"Only one kind of person has the ability to make a girl take someone else's identity."_

There were neither 'Kisses' nor an ' –A' at the end of the letter. Nonetheless the letter must've been written by A. Or was this supposed to help the girls? Judging from the secretive and metaphoric way it was written in, Spencer was almost completely sure that no one else except A could've been the author of this letter.

With Ezra, who'd be the only one giving anonymous tips in order to help, in hospital, there weren't any other options left.

Spencer took the letter and pinned it to her wall, then she grabbed her mobile phone.

**H**_**A**_**NNA**

Emily had seemed quite upset when she called Hanna. She was whispering, but the excitement was undeniably noticeable in her voice. Wondering what had led to this frantic phone call, Hanna apologized to Travis for ending their date so abruptly (again) and took off.

When she arrived at the DiLaurentis house, to which Emily had ordered her, her eyes widened, as the first thing she saw was a police car. She parked near the house and started looking for her agitated friend.

"Hanna!" Emily came from across the street and pulled her friend in a corner from where they had a good sight on the 'crime scene'.

"What on earth is going, Em? Why is there a police car parked outside the DiLaurentis house? Has Jason fallen off the wagon again or has anything happened to Ali… ?

"No … no. It's not about Alison. It's… Emily seemed to think about how to formulate what she wanted to say. "They obviously found another corpse."

"Say what?!"

"Yes… I don't know who it is. Their face is covered, but they obviously found them in the DiLaurentis house."

"Good god. Who do you think it could be?"

"I dunno. But I saw Detective Holbrooks talking to an older man who I think it might be Alison's father."

"Woah… Does Ali know about all of this?"

"No … well, she knows there's a police car, but I haven't told her yet why it's here. You should've seen her. She looked so anxious, I was afraid she'd hyperventilate."

"Okay… soo, what should we tell her? I mean, she is definitely going to ask."

"That's what I have been trying to figure out for the past 2 hours."

"Well, tell her … they just found some piece of evidence regarding CeCe or I dunno. She'll find out about this sooner or later anyway."

Emily nodded and glimpsed at the crime scene again. "I have an idea of who this could be. But I don't even want to say it out loud."

_**A**_**LISON**

The girls reunited late in the evening. With Hanna's mother on a business trip, they had the house to themselves and no one could possibly find out about Allison staying there with them.

Emily had managed to come up with a story to calm Alison. It took a while, because of Alison's crank ability to detect every lie Emily was telling, but in the end she succeeded. Probably because Ali stopped seeing a point in arguing with her, but as long as the blonde wouldn't freak out again, Emily was satisfied.

They made themselves comfortable on the couch in the living room in front of the TV.

"Any movies on your wish list?" Spencer asked.

The girls exchanged some looks, but no one really seemed to be in the mood for a movie.

"Okay guys, what is it?" Spencer had noticed that there was something in the air the second the all entered Hanna's house.

They all exchanged looks. No one seemed too keen on making the first step. The only one seemingly confused was Alison.

"I got a text from A", Aria admitted silently. "It was after I left the hospital. I got interviewed by an officer and I was so pissed off that I just left and …" She threw her hands in the air helplessly. "How can a person be so cruel and sick and make fun of this situation? I don't get it."

"I got a text too. Well, actually it was a letter." Spencer vanished for a second, only to come back with the letter she got a few hours ago. "Here." She put it on the desk in front of them.

"Wait … it isn't even signed by A, is it?" Hanna noticed.

"Yeah, he or she might've just forgotten, I figure". Spencer shrugged.

"Or someone else wrote it? Could it be possible?" Aria inquired.

"I dunno. I couldn't think of anyone", Spencer responded. "Anything else you guys might want to share?"

Emily and Hanna looked each other, then Emily shot a glance at Alison, who seemed tense.

Emily was just about to raise her voice, when Ali interrupted her. "There was a police car in front of my house today."

"What?!" Spencer and Aria exclaimed almost simultaneously.

"Yes. Emily has seen it, haven't you, Em?"

"We've both seen it", Hanna interjected. "We don't know the exact reason why they were here. We figured it'd be about some evidence regarding CeCe, since she had a connection to Alison and the DiLaurentis family."

"That is at least what_ they_ had told me", Alison added, nodding in Emily and Hanna's direction.

An unexpected voice interrupted them.

"Has anyone of you turned the TV on?" Spencer asked with a frown. "I can't seem to find the remote control.

The girls shook their head and stared at the screen,

_"… when they eventually identified the body as Jessica DiLaurentis, the mother of Alison DiLaurentis whose body was found at the exact same spot two years ago. The police is still investigating. The only evidence the murderer left was a red piece of fabric."_

None of the 5 dared to say a word.

_**A**_

A black hooded thin figure is seen in a dark room watching a recording from the news report of Jessica DiLaurentis' murder. The person keeps rewinding the part where they show the crime scene and stops at the moment were the only piece of evidence is shown, a piece of red fabric.


	2. bloody rAin

**The Devil within**

**A Pretty Little Liars Fanfiction**

**Set after 4x24 "A is for Alive"**

* * *

**Title: **The Devil within

**Author: **Myself

**Co-Author: **-

**Fandom: **ABC Family's Pretty Little Liars

**Pairings: **Spoby, Emison, Haleb, Ezria, Tranna

**Spoilers: ** SE04 &amp; SE05

**Posting: **Romance/Drama/Mystery

**Rating: **MA

**A/N: **All characters of Pretty Little Liars belong to Sara Shepard and ABC Family ©

**Synopsis: **Alison's return to Rosewood inflicts each of the liar's life in an individual way. Whilst Emily has to deal with her undying love, Aria will go down a dark path and she's taking a few people with her. Hanna has to wriggle herself out of a love triangle and Spencer must do anything in her power to keep her family together after she finds a couple of skeletons in their closets.

* * *

_**3 days after the finale … **_

**EMILY**

When Emily woke up every part of her body ached. A stinging pain radiated through her head and she frowned in distress. It took a while until her eyes adjusted and she could perceive her surroundings. Someone's hand tightly clung to her shoulder. When she reached up to identify this person her fingers touched soft and smooth skin. – _Alison _– She thought to herself. She couldn't but shiver in delight at her friend's touch. Emily let her eyes wander and quickly found the other 3 girls spread over the couch which they all obviously had fallen asleep on. She didn't want to move, enjoying every split of a second of Alison's hand on her body, but her bladder urged her to go looking for a toilet.

She tried as delicately as possible to loosen Ali's grip without waking the girl. She eventually succeeded and headed to the bathroom.

The events from yesterday hit her like a glass of cold water, when her brain started to put together the memories. Jessica DiLaurentis … dead … This was definitely not some sort of game anymore. Whoever was behind the A-Mask was definitely someone with serious mental issues. They've known that before, but the situation became more dangerous with every assault.

No wonder Alison was so frantic yesterday when Emily had told her about the police car. A could attack at any time and they didn't recoil from killing someone completely innocent.

Was Ms. DiLaurentis innocent? She knew of Alison's murderer who she had seemed to protect all along, but she didn't spill before. Why would she say anything now when she knew her daughter was alive? It didn't make any sense at all. She buried her daughter alive thus she'd bring herself in trouble when talking to the police about that dreadful night.

Emily let out a deep sigh. She knew if this wouldn't end soon, none of them would ever get the chance to live a normal life again. They'd always have to fear that someone would reveal their relationships and secrets to the public and in the worst case scenario that someone would hurt them or their loved ones. They couldn't spend a freaking day without any blackmailing or threats.

"I don't remember you being such an early bird." Emily almost dropped her toothbrush when someone tapped her shoulder from behind.

"You scared the hell out of me, Alison." She turned to face the other girl.

Alison looked like she had stayed up 3 nights in a row. Her eyes were reddened and framed by dark circles, her hair was messy and it appeared as if every spark of emotion had drained out of her body the other night.

"How are you?" Emily asked calmly. She hesitated for a second, but then coaxed herself to put a strain of Ali's hair behind her ears.

Alison looked away. "I am trying not to think about it", she responded silently. "I mean it is not like I had the best relationship with my mother, but if you grew up with a person, you usually establish some kind of emotional bond. And it undeniably hurts to have that bond broken."

"Of course… I can't even begin to imagine what I'd do if that would happen to my mum."

"Well, you better prepare for the worst. A has taken the game way too far this time and I bet they'd do that again. Practically none of us is save, including the persons we are closest too."

"Well … what do you suggest we should do then? Warn them?"

"I dunno. There's actually not much we _can_ do. Either we find this person soon enough or our fates will be sealed once and for all."

The thought was gut-wrenching. "Either way, we are playing with our lives."

**SPENCER**

It had somehow become a morning ritual for Spencer to go on the porch right after she woke up. The gentle touch of air brushing against her skin and the warmth of the sun rays were somewhat calming. After the past few months she needed this. Sometimes she'd bring a double espresso and some pastries with her and sit outside for a while. When she was at her own house it was also the perfect way to escape her family. However, this time Spencer hadn't much time for her relaxing routine as a dark object on the floor caught her attention.

_When did that got here?_ She wondered. She bowed down to examine it more closely and identified it as a rather large stone. She frowned. Was it put her on purpose or …? She lifted it up and almost let it fall again after her hand got in touch with an unknown liquid substance. When she looked at her fingers her eyes widened and this time she really let the stone drop. Was that … no it couldn't … or was it really blood? She checked her fingers and palm again and sighed in relief as she found that it looked way to unrealistic to be real blood. Nevertheless this was a clear message, from no one other than big A.

It was supposed to symbolize the rock Ali got hit on the head with and it meant that the very same person was planning on reliving that moment.

Spencer swallowed hard. She looked around in order to check if anyone was watching her, then she lifted up the stone carefully and transported it back into the Marin's house.

**THE GIRLS**

"Guys!" Spencer hurriedly went to the living room and woke the other girls. "A has left another message."

She put the rock in front of her friends, who frowned in confusion.

"What kind of message is that supposed to be?" Aria asked.

"Turn it around", was Spencer's response.

Aria did so and her eyes widened at the sight of a red substance. "Is it … ?"

Spencer shook her head. "I highly doubt it. But it's only a matter of time until there might be real blood on there."

Spencer regretted her words the second the left her mouth, when she realized Ali's shocked facial expression.

"I am sorry, Ali, I … I am just trying to accentuate the seriousness of this situation. Guys, we gotta do something. This is getting more dangerous by the second. By now I really think that none of us is save, including anyone who was in any way involved in trying to track down A. We saw what A did to Ezra. And now Ms. D… I think we have enough prove that A is taking this to a whole new level. Again I am sorry, Ali."

"It's okay. I mean, you're right. But it's not like I haven't told you before", Ali responded nonchalantly.

"Do you think we should leave Rosewood? Just for a while at least? To work out a plan?" Aria suggested.

"Well, where should we go to? Noel Kahn? To be honest, I don't trust him either", Spencer answered. "Even if you do, Ali", she added. "What is his big secret, anyway?"

"I can't tell you that. I promised. But being aware of what he did, I have enough in my hands to bring him down if he'd do something stupid."

Spencer nodded. For some reason this wasn't the least bit assuring.

"I know it's not really outside of Rosewood, but we could go to Ezra's cottage and use his surveillance equipment … well, you know, if we are smart enough to figure out how it works", Aria said.

"Yes, as if a cottage in the middle of the woods seems like a safe place to be, Aria", Hanna responded sarcastically.

"Actually that is not such a bad idea, Hanna", Spencer interjected. "I mean you know the password for his door, right Aria? And he had cameras everywhere, so we would at least be at the same level as A."

"Oh, please…" Ali rolled her eyes. "They are always one step ahead of us."

"Nevertheless this seems to be the best option we have."

**THE GIRLS**

"Okay guys? I have no idea how this thing is supposed to work. Honestly? I can't even find the on-switch", Hanna said, desperately clicking on random buttons and not succeeding.

They were in Ezra's secret lair and checked his CIA-like equipment. So far they hadn't found anything they could make use of.

"How did he know how of all that stuff worked? Thought he was an English teacher, not an IT professional", Hanna added mockingly.

"Maybe he had some kind of instructions? It's not like he ever told any of us about his secret spare activity", Spencer responded.

"Well, do you know anyone who's good with that stuff?"

"Hm … well, there'd be a person, but I don't think you'll be very excited to know hear her name."

**_A_RIA**

Being at this place felt like a time travel. Every little spot of the cottage harbored a memory of her and Ezra. Some were good, some weren't. She was actually proud of herself for being able to stay here and not succumbing to her broken heart.

She took a book from one of the shelves and brushed over the cover. _To kill a mockingbird _\- it used to be one of his favorites. She sighed and put it back where it belonged.

**THE GIRLS**

"Mona? Seriously? You really want to invite the devil to help us bring down the evilness in person? The one that used to be an "A" herself? This is somewhat contradictory."

"Think about it, Hanna. Mona might be everything but a nice person, but she is not on the A-team anymore … presumably … she has her own agenda, I figure. But she's an evil genius and she offered to help us plenty of time. Besides, she was probably employed by upper A, so that might give us some kind of advantage. Well, if she is willing to reveal more details, that is."

"Didn't she say she had told us everything already? Oh, I am sorry, I mean didn't she already lie to us about not knowing more than that?"

"Well… maybe there is some way we can pull her on our side. I mean after all she wants to know who A is herself."

"I am guessing it's one of her 2,000 other personalities."

"Hanna … we are running out of options, so we have to take any chance we can get."

"If you say so, Spence. It just comes as a surprise that especially you think of Mona as someone we can trust."

"I am not saying I trust her. I just think she is our only hope right now as long as no one of us figures out how to work with this mastermind thingy here."

Hanna shrugged. She couldn't really reconcile with the idea, but then again, they really didn't have any other options left.

**EMILY**

Whilst the other 3 girls were busy examining Ezra's lair, Emily and Alison tried to come up with a plan to get Alison to the cottage without anybody noticing.

The blonde observed her friend going through some clothes in Hanna's wardrobe, but her thoughts seemed to be elsewhere.

"Look, that should work." Emily presented her with a brown wig and a wide, blue hoodie.

Alison raised her eyebrows. "Seriously?"

"Hey, do you wanna be inconspicuous or not?"

"Fine." She pulled the wig over her head.

"It's not like you hadn't done that before", Emily joked.

**MON**_**A**_

It always felt like daggers when Mona looked at you, or rather starred at you. Her look was so intense, it made the girls shudder.

"What exactly is it that you want from me?" Her voice sounded cold yet a little teasing. She knew they'd need her - and only her - help and having power over them felt incredibly satisfying.

"We have to work with some surveillance equipment. But we don't know how to use it. Since you've been stalking us for a good one year, we thought you could help us out a little."

Mona smiled bitterly. "Yeah. Sure. I help you play with your boyfriend's little toys", she said devilishly turning to Aria.

Aria looked like she was about to jump on Mona and scratch her eyes out, thus Spencer grabbed her arm as a precaution.

"You can work with us. Isn't that what you wanted?" Hanna asked.

"There are some conditions though", Spencer added.

Mona's self-conscious grin immediately vanished. She hated when someone took the power out of her hands. "You need_ my_ help, remember?" she said, trying to regain control of the conversation.

"If it'll be necessary I'll look through whole Rosewood and beyond to find someone else", Spencer responded. "So you either help us and agree to those conditions, or this conversation is officially over."

Mona's frustration was clearly visible. "Spill."

"First you promise to tell us everything you know about upper A. Secondly, you will never go anywhere unwatched. Thirdly, you'll hand in your mobile phone and you only use it when we need you to. Fourthly…"

"Hold it right there. I thought I was supposed to be a part of your team, not your prisoner."

"Mona, if you want to prove your innocence once and for all, I suggest you make this sacrifice."

The devious girl fixated Spencer with her eyes. It looked like she was battling with her inner self, or one of her other personalities as Hanna would've put it. Then she eventually agreed.

"Fine. But I have some conditions myself."

"We're listening."

"I don't wanna be treated like I am some mentally unstable psycho or schizophrenic. And I don't want you to act like I was still a treat, at least try to make it look like you trust me. And lastly, I also want to be informed about everything you know about A, including every text you received and will receive in the future. If this shall work, we have to make it work together."

The girls nodded in response. "Deal."

_**A**_**LISON**

"Have you ever wondered why things are the way they are?" Alison looked at Emily with a questioning look.

"Well. I … I highly believe that everything that happens is due to something we did. Kind of a law of cause and effect."

"Do you think this is all set up by some great universal power? You know, like a god or something? Because I sometimes really doubt that."

"I think we can't really answer this question on a general basis. Everyone's got their individual perception of god and whether he exists or not. I mean, I want to believe that there's something out there, it'd make a lot of things much easier to understand. But then again, this is just what us humans believe or want to believe. It originated from messages of people who had a very, very low understanding of science, it is kind of hard to have faith in something like that."

"Hm. I mean my family is catholic but not strongly religious, so I dunno. Guess, I don't really have an opinion on that. However, I am just wondering sometimes. Especially in such kind of situations, you know, when someone dies. I reckon people like the idea of going someplace nice when they die. Or that their relatives might be still amongst them as some sort of aura after their death."

Emily, who had been busying herself with cleaning the kitchen before, now sat down next to Ali on the couch.

"Yes, that makes sense. Who wouldn't wish that their life would still go on?"

"Maybe those who wouldn't want to think back on their lives forever … about what they did, who they hurt", Ali responded darkly.

Emily felt slightly uncomfortable upon hearing that statement. She scrutinized her friend. Was she hiding something?

"I never told you this, Em, but … I did terrible things to my mother sometimes."

"Like … like what?"

"You could almost say, I mentally tortured her. Well, actually I and CeCe did that. We sometimes wouldn't stop playing our naughty games until my mother had a nervous breakdown. CeCe went to a psychologist once. He said she might have sadistic tendencies. My mother said that she was a bad influence and that I might develop those tendencies too due to my friendship with her."

"Ali, why haven't you told us that before? This is major evidence that CeCe could be the one that tried to kill you that night."

Alison frowned and looked almost indignantly at her. "CeCe is a lot of things, but she is not a murderer, or in that case, a potential murderer. How could you even say such a thing?"

"I … I am sorry, it's just that CeCe has been a suspect for so long and now that you are telling me this it just seemed like … like you wanted me to think that."

Alison shook her head, still a little poleaxed that Emily would jump to such an assumption, even though given CeCe's history, her thoughts were somewhat justified.

"There are so many things you don't know yet, Emily", Alison continued. "But you'll find out soon enough."

_**A**_**RIA**

"Have you heard from the hospital yet?" Spencer sat down next to Aria, once again providing her friend with food and coffee. She and Hanna had arrived at the hut a few minutes ago, Emily and Alison were still on their way. They had arranged that Mona would come by at approximately 9pm.

"No… Above that I am trying to avoid that place anyway. Not because I can't see Ezra in his current condition, but also because that freaking officer is definitely going to look for me again."

"What do you think he knows?"

"Well, for starters he knows that Ezra and I have dated before it was officially legal. I think there isn't anything worse they could dig up."

"Why would he ride about that matter anyway? How in hell could he use that to solve an attempted murder?"

"Beats me. But you know them. They look at every frigging detail. I mean yes, they have to, but I really don't see how this is in any way an argument they could use against me regarding this case."

"Well, who knows? They always come up with a theory."

**SPENCER**

When Spencer checked her phone, she noticed 3 unanswered calls and a text message. It was her mother, urging her to call back as soon as she would see the message.

Frowning, Spencer dialed her mother's number.

"Spencer? What has taken you so long?" Veronica Hastings demanded to know harshly.

"I am sorry, my phone was on mute, and I was busy all day so I didn't check it", Spencer excused herself.

"Busy with what? What exactly are you hiding, Spencer?"

"Mum, what is wrong? Did something happen?"

"Well, maybe you should ask your anonymous little friend."

Spencer almost let her phone drop at that sentence. "Excuse me?"

"Oh, you know very well, whom I talking about. The letters? From London?"

"What … wait, did you just say letterS as in more than one letter?"

"Yes, there was the one you got the other day and another one just came in a couple of hours ago."

"And you opened it?!" Spencer's voice became so loud, the other girls began to stare in her direction.

"Well, I have enough reasons to be mistrustful, haven't I?" She was obviously referring to Spencer's latest medication abuse.

"Whatt will be next? Will we get a prescription in letter form?"

"Okay, mum, listen … it is important that you tell me what is in this letter.

"Why don't you come home and have a look at it yourself? Where are you anyway? I don't remember you asking me whether you could stay out tonight or not."

"I am with the girls, Mum! We're staying at one of Aria's friend's house."

"It says _"The more ignorant, reckless and thoughtless a doctor is, the higher his reputation soars even amongst powerful princes"_. I have absolutely no idea what is supposed to mean, but just the word 'doctor' in it seems suspicious. Spencer, you need to be honest with me."

"I am NOT taking drugs anymore, mum."

"Then what is this letter about?"

"I don't know. None of us do."

Her mother stayed quiet for a moment, then she continued. "I just don't want you to get in danger, honey. For god's sake, there has just been another murder in our neighborhood! It's like Rosewood is hunted by some kind of a grudge. Just promise me you'll stay away from people who might endanger you."

"I promise." Spencer had no other chance than to lie. This whole matter was way too delicate and complicated to let somebody in on it. Besides, if she told her mother what exactly went down in Rosewood, she'd never let her daughter out of the house again.

**EMILY**

"It's only a few more minutes by foot until we reach the hut", Emily assured her friend, whilst helping her out of the car, checking whether anyone was there to watch them.

It had already turned dark and stars were shining brightly on the sky.

"Wow, what a romantic setting", Alison said. Emily was unsure if she was being sincere or sarcastic.

"Yeah, I guess."

"Remember "Great Expectations"?"

"You mean the book?"

"Yes, _that_ book."

"Uhm yeah… Why would you mention that?"

Alison hesitated for a moment, before answering. "Oh, no specific reason, I just wanted to know if you still remembered it." She shot a glance at Emily, wondering what kind of emotion she had triggered with bringing that up.

Emily looked as if she was trying hard not do add anything to this conversation.

"You know, I wasn't lying when I said that I love you." Alison didn't know herself where she was going with this. Was she just trying to test out where Emily's boundaries lay? Or was she keen on finding out if the girl would still feel the same way about her like she once did? And what if she did?

Emily stopped, but she didn't turn around to face Alison. "Ali, please… Let us not go there, please?"

Alison didn't answer. She fixated Emily's back. A sudden crack of wood made her spin around. "Did you hear that?" she whispered, her voice shaking. She felt her muscles tense and her heartbeat increase rapidly.

Emily grabbed her arm. "I think we're being watched." When Ali made an attempt to let her look wander, Emily grabbed her even tighter. "Don't. Just act like we don't know." She loosened her grip a little. "Come on, let's go."

**THE GIRLS**

When they had all gathered at the lodge a heavy storm arose. Thunder filled the air with noise, accompanied by the rhythmic sound of rain trickling against glass.

"Mona should be here in about half an hour" Spencer informed.

They had curled up on Ezra's couch, wrapped in sheets, since there was no heater in the hut.

"You really think she can help us?" Hanna questioned, sipping on a warm cup of hot chocolate.

"Let's hope. I mean after all she's some kind of genius, right?" Spencer responded.

"Don't forget evil and manipulative" Aria added.

"Do you guys think she is still involved in the A-game?" Emily asked.

"I don't know, but I somehow think that Mona does not play for any teams. She has her own agenda", Spencer answered.

Outside the storm went on with ear battering noise. Tree branches crashed against the rain-soaked window panes. Spencer checked if every door was locked, when all of the sudden the girls sensed a noise. It sounded as if someone had opened either a door or a window. Alison almost scratched Emily's skin when she held on tightly to her arm. Spencer ran in the kitchen-part of the lodge and grabbed the biggest knife she could find. Then the lights turned out and a rush of fear went through everybody's body. No one dared to make a noise. The main room was briefly illuminated by a lightning and a dark figure could be seen. When the light was gone, so was the person. It felt like their heartbeat had stopped for a moment. Then the lights went on again.

No one could be seen. There was no damage to be found in any part of the lodge, as the girls started to look, until a deafening cry came out of the bathroom.

When the followed the scream, they found a shocked Alison starring at the mirror. There was a slurred text written in some red fluid (which they hoped wasn't blood) on it saying "PrepAre to follow, bitch. – A". Underneath was a picture of her mother in a freshly excavated grave.

Behind them steps could be heard. All 5 of them turned around in the split of a second only to face a very perplexed Mona Vanderwal.

"I think we scheduled a meeting at 9 am."

_**A**_

Someone could be seen outside the lodge, watching the girls and Mona through one of the windows. The anonymous person than ripped out a page of a book and glued it to the window pane, so that the text was readable for those inside.

_"I loved her against reason. Against promise. Against piece. Against hope. Against happiness. Against all discouragement there could be."_

For the split of a second, the face underneath the black hood could be seen and a black veil became visible."


	3. the pAst never sleeps

**The Devil within**

**A Pretty Little Liars Fanfiction**

**Set after 4x24 "A is for Alive"**

* * *

**Title: **The Devil within

**Author: **Myself

**Co-Author: **-

**Fandom: **ABC Family's Pretty Little Liars

**Pairings: **Spoby, Emison, Haleb, Ezria, Tranna

**Spoilers: ** SE04 &amp; SE05

**Posting: **Romance/Drama/Mystery

**Rating: **MA

**A/N: **All characters of Pretty Little Liars belong to Sara Shepard and ABC Family ©

**Synopsis: **Alison's return to Rosewood inflicts each of the liar's life in an individual way. Whilst Emily has to deal with her undying love, Aria will go down a dark path and she's taking a few people with her. Hanna has to wriggle herself out of a love triangle and Spencer must do anything in her power to keep her family together after she finds a couple of skeletons in their closets.

* * *

**THE GIRLS**

Mona looked at every single one of them in obvious confusion. "What's going on here, did I miss something?" The second she asked, she noticed the "bloody artwork" on the mirror. She faked her best shocked look. "When did this happen?"

The immediate thought on everyone's mind was that Mona had been the one scaring them before and leaving this message in the bathroom.

"Oh, please, pretend you don't know", Hanna blurted out. "When did you get here anyway?"

"I just arrived a few minutes ago. Then I heard someone screaming in the bathroom and I came to look. That is all I know", Mona defended herself. It was hard to tell if she was lying or not, since Mona never seemed to be telling the truth, even though in some cases she did. It was as if she wanted people to believe she was only manipulating them, when in reality she was being honest.

"Didn't we agree on something, by the way?" she added, her tone somewhat displeased.

It was undeniably visible that Hanna was trying to hold back a sarcastic comment.

Mona seemed to be pleased as no one raised their voice again to accuse her of anything.

"Okay, now, what exactly went down here before I came?"

The girls looked at each other, then Alison turned to Mona. "Someone was in the house, but disappeared when we saw them. Then this message appeared, so I assume he or she has been in here longer than just a few minutes."

"So, it must be someone who has either access to the hut or a very good knowledge of hacking technological devices", Mona concluded.

"How did you get in here, anyway?" Spencer asked, eyeing the girl suspiciously.

"I rank among the latter", she answered bluntly.

"You hack your way into the lodge and expect us to trust you? What is going on 'up there'?" Aria pointed to Mona's head.

"Didn't we also agree on not referring to me as some psychologically disturbed person?"

Aria didn't answer.

"This does not justify you breaking in here. How should this not seem suspicious to us?" Spencer stepped in for her suddenly muted friend.

"Think what you want. After all, there is no need for me to be here. It is you who want to find A. I have put that behind me long ago."

Spencer swallowed a remark. "Just help us figure out how that god damn surveillance equipment works."

In about an hour Mona had set up everything they needed. Her fingers veritably flew over the keyboards and with every press of a button another display seemed to turn on, showing various kinds of places, including Rosewood high, Ezra's apartment, a few angles of a street, the Grille, etc.

"Ezra was really … precise", Hanna said, staring at the many screens in astonishment. Aria took in a deep breath. It still took her a lot to even be here, let alone be confronted with the private activities of her former boyfriend.

"Hypothetical question, Aria. What if Ezra wakes up in say, one week, would you forgive him _that _easily?" Hanna asked curiously.

"Hanna …" Spencer gave her friend a reproachful look.

"No, Spenc, it's okay. It's a justified question. After all, he didn't only lie to me, but to all of us. He would have had a chance to help, but all he did was track down the perfect ending for his novel." She paused for a moment. "I guess first of all I'd be so overwhelmed by emotion that I won't be able to address this matter. I'd just be glad that he is alive and awake. Then … I dunno, I might give him another chance to explain his situation, but I am not going to trust him ever again. So no, I can't picture my future with him anymore."

Hanna nodded understandingly. "You're totally right. I know you love him, but this shouldn't stop you from doing the right thing."

"People do deserve a second chance, you know" Alison suddenly raised her voice.

All the looks were now directed at her.

"I mean, you gave me a second chance too, right? Even though a lot of people were of the opinion that I wouldn't deserve one. A lot of people want to see me dead for the things I did to them. I'd say, everyone has their dark side. Everyone is a little bit of an egoist. Don't tell me you haven't done anything self-centered before?"

They all looked down at the floor, somewhat ashamed.

"Aria, I am not going to talk you into something. But Ezra is a down-to-earth and loving guy. He'd take a bullet for you. No, he actually did."

"I don't want to discuss this now. Let's try to focus on what's important _right now_." Aria ended the conversation. She tried to force her look onto the screens, without her thoughts wandering back to the moment Ezra had stood in front of her, dreamily gazing into the sky, blood flooding out of his abdomen…

**EMILY**

When Emily fell asleep it was already 1am. After another night of dreadful events, she was more than happy to finally found some rest. Her eye lids became heavier and heavier until she finally drifted off to sleep.

She couldn't tell when she woke up again, but her surroundings were still covered in darkness, except for the moon that shone through the window and illuminated a few edges here and there, so she assumed she couldn't have been asleep for very long. Fog patches passed by the windows beside her 'bed' which basically consisted of a bedroll and another sheet to keep her warm. She sat up and rubbed her eyes.

She was unsure whether she was still half asleep, awake or dreaming, but she soon sensed noises coming from the front door.

For the split of a second everything vanished in pitch blackness, but then she found herself back in the lodge, as if her brain was stuck between being awake and being asleep.

Her vision was mostly blurred, even though she couldn't tell why. However, she could still perceive a figure covered in red, walking towards her bed.

Her heart began to double its speed within seconds. She didn't even dare to breathe. Inside she was still hoping this was only some kind of nightmare or hallucination due to her sleep deprivation.

The person sat down next to her, not yet uncovering her face, but Emily could already see blonde locks falling out of the hood of the coat.

"CeCe?" She asked, not receiving any answers. "Alison?" she tried again.

The person pressed their index finger on their lips, signalizing Emily to stay quiet.

"Who are you?" Emily whispered, desperately seeking an answer.

The person reached out to put a strand of hair behind Emily's ear. Their touch felt unexpectedly gentle and soft. Judging from that and also the hair and the thin body of the person, Emily was almost 100 per cent sure, this was a woman.

The only two red coats they knew, were CeCe drake who was (presumably) in jail right now and Alison. But why would Alison wake her up in the middle of the night, dressed in a red coat?

This had to be a dream.

The person came a little closer and Emily tried to perceive their facial features.

Blue eyes, full lips, long and curly hair – Emily was almost sure it was Alison.

However, before she could say something, the other girl's lips were pressed firmly on her own.

She widened her eyes in shock. Nevertheless she didn't pull away.

She could sense a familiar scent, but she didn't know that scent from Alison. Alison's perfume was lighter. This was more bitter and penetrating.

Now she was at least assured that this was a dream.

When their lips parted, the girl she believed was Alison had a wicked smile on her face. Without saying anything further, she stood up and her figure was concealed by darkness again.

Emily raised her hand and touched her lips. The harsh scent of Alison still lingered in the room and it felt as if her lips had never left Emily's.

When Emily woke up again, it was 7am in the morning. Alison lay a few meters away from here, curled up in her bedroll – no red coat anywhere to be seen.

_So it was indeed just a dream_, Emily eventually concluded. _Or was it? _

**H**_**A**_**NNA**

When Hanna eventually woke up it was already 10am, but that didn't seem to bother the girl. She stood up, yawned loudly, stretched her limbs and headed to the kitchen. Aria and Emily were already awake, sharing some pancakes and a pot of freshly brewed coffee. Alison was still asleep and Spencer had obviously vanished for a refreshing morning run.

"When did you make pancakes?" Hanna asked in confusion.

"We didn't make them. They were already done and put in the freezer. But they're still tasty, if you want some."

Hanna shrugged. "Can't say no to pancakes."

After a delicious breakfast, Hanna decided to examine the rest of the lodge a little more closely. She checked every book on Ezra's numerous shelves, but quickly got bored by that. However, when she went to the back of the lodge, something seemed to catch her attention.

"Guys!" she called out, eyeing the window pane. "Did you see this?"

Aria and Emily quickly came over and looked over their friend's shoulder.

Emily shuddered, when she discovered her friend's object of interest.

"I loved her against reason. Against promise. Against piece. Against hope. Against happiness. Against all discouragement there could be."

Great Expectations … It was the book Ali read to her the day when she also shattered her heart into a million pieces. And it was exactly those lines she read, when Emily commanded all her courage and leaned in for a peck on Alison's lip (since it couldn't really be considered a kiss). She felt somewhat humiliated rereading this passage. She tried to cover her discomfort.

"Wasn't it in that one book… what was it called again?" Aria tapped on her lips in thought. "Right, 'Great Expectations'!"

Emily looked away and crossed her arms. "I don't think this means anything special."

"Emily, everything A sends us or presents us with has some kind of hidden meaning. This will have too."

Emily sighed. She tried so hard not to think about Alison _that_ way in the last few days, but it seemed as if everyone, including Alison, pushed her to develop feelings for the girl again. _I am not going to let that happen again, either it ends once and for all or it'll never end _– she thought to herself.

**SPENCER**

In the afternoon Mona was not at the lodge, but she had left her phone due to the rules set up by the girls.

Spencer sat in front of the main computer in Ezra's lair and kept an eye on all the cameras. She had managed to figure out how to turn them off and on again and how to alter their angle (which was only possible for some of them). So, currently they didn't necessarily need help from Mona or anyone for that matter.

She had continued with her suspect profiles and was momentarily working on the one of CeCe Drake. Her plan was to visit the devious blonde today in prison, but at first she'd put up some kind of a questionnaire which she would present to CeCe then.

She didn't expect a lot of answers from the woman, but it didn't hurt to try.

So far, they hadn't really gathered any more hints on who A was, but Spencer knew it would take time.

Everything was basically connected to everything. The night Alison disappeared triggered so many events which led to other events and so on. By now, at least 10 persons including themselves must be involved in this even though Spencer couldn't tell yet what kind of contribution anyone of them made.

She had put up the theory that there were actually several teams working against each other. There was the A-Team who obviously consisted of upper A and her possible henchmen and short-term employees (like Toby, Mona and for some time Spencer herself). Then there was another team, following some kind of own agenda, that possibly consisted of Melissa, Shana and Jenna. They were either trying to fight against the A-Team or cover up for something completely else. Maybe the murder of the person in Alison's grave? Spencer had that nagging thought that Melissa knew so much more than she pretended to. Was she really capable of a murder? Or was she covering for someone?

There were so many burning questions and so few answers. Some people's involvement may stay a secret forever, because they already kicked the bucket, like Wilden, Ian or Garrett.

Then there was Jason – who always seemed to arouse some kind of suspicion, especially after Spencer learned that the rehabilitation center he was supposed to be at closed 2 years ago.

What about Noel? What was he hiding? Why would Alison trust him?

And who on earth could Ms. D have been protecting the night Ali was "killed"? Thinking logically it must be someone close to her, presumably a family member, so Jason would be the first to come in mind.

Spencer had to get some answers from CeCe or else their investigations would stay as dead as they were right now.

_**A**_**RIA**

_{{{The following text in italic is from the lyrics of "Still Here" by Digital Daggers}}}_

_~ Flashback ~_

Blurred vision. Loud noises. People screaming.

_Musing through memories, losing my grip in the grey_

Her hands covered his blood soaked shirt. She tried to put a stop to the bleeding, but it kept flooding out.

_Numbing the senses, I feel you slipping away_

She felt her mouth open, she wanted to scream, but nothing came out.

_Fighting to hold on, clinging to just one more day_

His eye lids flickered, but eventually he lost his consciousness. She felt as if life had just drained out of his body.

_Love turns to ashes, with all that I wish could say.._

A strong force pulled her away and she watched the medics lift his body up and put him onto a litter, whilst pressing an oxygen mask on his face.

_I'd die to be where you are. I tried to be where you are._

Tears wetted her face, but she was unable to move, unable to speak, unable to fully realize what had just happened. In that instant she felt as if her brain was bursting because of all the emotions and thoughts that went through it.

_~ Flashback end ~_

Aria stood in the middle of the lodge, holding on to a page of Ezra's secret novel he had obviously forgot to put into his finished expose

"She changed my life, the way I think, the way I feel, the way I perceive the world. She made me feel loved for who I was, never judged. She accepted our relationship for the way it just happened to be, took all the pain and responsibility that came with it. She never left my side, even though she would've had a lot of reasons to do so. I am grateful for every breath she takes and even more for every breath she takes while I can look into her fawn eyes. When I meet her lips, I drift off into a world, where I'd like to be forever."

**H**_**A**_**NNA**

She should've known that it wouldn't take long until the police would turn to the girls about Ms. DiLaurentis' murder. Her mother had just arrived in Rosewood, when the officers practically stormed her and the other houses. "Where is your daughter?" They inquired to know. Ashley Marin threw the door into their faces.

Of course they had a connection to the DiLaurentis family, but mostly because Alison was their friend. They didn't get involved into all this on purpose. Hanna had decided to refuse talking to them. Mostly because she felt misjudged, but also because she wasn't so keen on seeing Detective Holbrooks.

She got a text from Travis. "Hey, you up for a movie tonight?" She smiled. "Sure. Can't wait." She texted back. Maybe he would manage to distract her for a while.

**CECE DR**_**A**_**KE**

CeCe Drake was the official owner of all the answers so desperately demanded by everyone. They could question her as long as they wanted, but they wouldn't get anything out of her.

Her plan had been perfect, except for one little mistake, namely Travis. That stupid little rat was at the wrong place at the wrong time. Without him, it would've all worked out just fine. She wondered if he was the one turning her in.

However, her case wasn't completely hopeless. She would find her way out of this, or someone else would, she was sure.

"You have a visitor, Ms. Drake."

Spencer hesitantly walked into the room and sat down in front of the blonde woman.

"My my! If isn't the all-time busy Spencer Hastings. To what do I deserve this honor?" CeCe mockingly asked.

Spencer tried to ignore her remark, even though it was extremely hard to hold back.

"I think you owe us some answers", she eventually said.

"Oh, do I?" It was obvious, that CeCe wouldn't easily give away any information.

"I suppose we have the same goal. We don't want to see Alison get hurt", Spencer added.

CeCe smiled bitterly.

"You _know_ something we don't and it might help us find out who is after Ali."

"Oh, Spencer. You wouldn't recognize the perpetrator if they'd be sleeping next door to you."

_What was she talking about? _Spencer frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, so you haven't figured that out yet? Hm. I actually considered you to be smarter than that."

"Who are you talking about?" Spencer probed to know.

She didn't answer.

"Okay, let's try something else. Why did you kill Detective Wilden?"

"Interesting question, isn't it?"

"Would you just stop for god's sake…" Spencer took a deep breath, then continued. "Those games aren't gonna get you anywhere, especially not out of here."

"Maybe you should be more concerned about Alison than me. As you've said, she needs protection. I don't see how I can help you with that, since my hands are obviously died."

Spencer eyed the sheet on which she noted down all the questions she wanted to ask. Since CeCe didn't seem to be anything near cooperative, she decided that it wouldn't bring her any further to stay here.

"Thank you, CeCe, thank you for nothing." She got up and left the room.

What a waste of time. However, one sentence kept ringing inside her head…

_You wouldn't recognize the perpetrator if they'd be sleeping next door to you_

**EMILY**

Emily had been struggling with her emotions since she knew for sure that Alison was alive. Of course she had Paige to distract her for a while, but the thought of Alison kept reappearing in her head over and over. And then, all of the sudden, Alison was part of her life again, and various emotions came from every angle of her mind.

Nevertheless she managed to distance her from these feelings, at least partly, but with A bringing up all those memories, it wouldn't take long until her discipline would fade away again.

Even though her wounds had healed, her scars would always stay. And A would take any opportunity of ripping them open.

"You okay? You seem so distressed", Aria sat down next to Emily, softly touching her friend's shoulder.

Emily pondered whether she'd like to talk about this to someone or if she'd feel better keeping it a secret. She eventually decided on the former.

"Those pages… on the window…"

"Yeah?"

"Ali read it to me once … it was before I kissed her."

Aria's eyes widened. "Really? But this has been a long time ago? So A must've been stalking Alison for way longer than we assumed, right?"

"Beats me. Maybe they just found out because of Ali's diary. I dunno if she ever wrote it down, but…"

"Don't take this question the wrong way, but … how do you honestly feel about Ali being in the midst of us again?"

"I wish I could answer that. It's … weird. I mean, I am happy she's back, but it's weird. And A bringing up all of this old memories that I tried to bury long ago, makes it even more complicated."

"I understand. You write someone off because you think they're gone and all of the sudden… I felt that way, when Ezra appeared on the rooftop that night. For the split of a second I let myself believe that he was really the guy he pretended to be. I wanted to tell him that I loved him no matter what, but it was too late."

Emily smiled sympathetically and put a hand on Aria's shoulder. "There is still a chance, that you will get the opportunity to tell him this."

"Here. I found this in one of his books." She showed Emily the page that didn't make it into Ezra's novel.

Silence enveloped them for a moment, then Emily asked: "How do you feel now?"

"Like some ignorant, egomaniac bitch."

**H**_**A**_**NNA**

It was a few minutes after 8pm when Travis picked Hanna up in front of the Grille. He softly kissed her on the mouth and raised his eyebrows at his date's sight. A tight black dress covered her body, accentuating her curves. "Wow", he said, an endearing smile on his face. "You'll turn all the attention away from the screen", he added jokingly. Hanna laughed and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "We better get going, the film starts at half past."

**SPENCER**

When Spencer exited the prison, she noticed a familiar figure passing her.

"Jason?"

Jason DiLaurentis turned around briefly, identifying Spencer, and quickly kept walking in another direction.

_What crawled up your ass and died?_ Spencer wondered. Alison's brother did seem eerily suspicious and Spencer was still dying to figure out what he did during the months he allegedly spent at a rehab facility that had closed 2 years ago.

**H**_**A**_**NNA**

"This is nice", Hanna whispered, cuddling up with Travis. He put his arms around her shoulders and pulled her closer.

Hanna indeed enjoyed the time with him. It was almost as if her past with Caleb was gone, even though sometimes memories of him would just pop up in the back of her head. She would never be able to erase those memories, that was for sure, but maybe she'd be able to start a new chapter with Travis on her side.

"Hey, isn't that the guy you met last time?" Travis nodded at the other side of the cinema.

Hanna had to look twice to identify the person as Lucas Gottesmen. She raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"You sure he is not interested in you like_ that_? He seems to be pretty curious as to what we are doing here" Travis whispered.

"What makes you say that?"

"Maybe the fact that he keeps starring in our direction."

"Well, maybe he is just trying to find out whether it's me or just some look alike" Hanna stated insouciantly.

Travis looked into Lucas direction again, eyeing him suspiciously. For some reason he didn't trust that guy, and neither should Hanna.

**CECE DR**_**A**_**KE**

"You sure it'll work?" CeCe looked worried, a feeling that didn't really fit her. Someone was visiting her at her cell, presumably without the knowledge of the police officers.

The person on the outer side of the bars put their hand on her face and softly stroked her cheek.

"Please be cautious", Cece whispered.

**H**_**A**_**NNA**

When Hanna and Travis left the cinema, Hanna noticed Lucas worriedly walking back and forth. She kept herself from confronting him about his awkward behavior and watched from the distance.

Her jaw dropped when she saw someone in a black hoodie – face covered – giving Lucas what obviously seemed to be some sort of document.

_**A**_**LISON**

Alison and Emily were sitting on the couch at Ezra's lodge. None of them had said a single word, after Alison had revealed to Emily that she wanted to leave Rosewood again.

"I don't feel save here. A has eyes everywhere" she had said.

"But you can't run away forever. If you stay here and support us with your knowledge, we might be able to finally bring them down" Emily had answered.

She couldn't stand the thought of seeing Alison leave again.

Alison had almost had tears in her eyes during their conversations. "Don't you see what is happening? People around me keep dying. It's not just me I am worried about. It is all of you, especially you, Emily." She had paused after that. "I don't want to see you get hurt, I lo…" At that point of time she hadn't been able to contain her tears anymore.

"Alison … we are in this together and we will also get through this together." She had taken the blonde's hand, having regretted it only a few seconds later, as she had felt a stinging pain jolt go through her heart at the mere thought of letting go of Alison again.

"I can't watch you walk away again", she had added.

Alison hadn't answered. She had just looked away.

And now there they were, not daring to break the silence or look each other.

_**A**_

Someone was flipping through Jason's yearbook. Ian and Garret's pictures were shown to be crossed out. The person took a black pen and slowly crossed out Jason's photograph as well.


	4. knowledge means deAth

**The Devil within**

**A Pretty Little Liars Fanfiction**

**Set after 4x24 "A is for Alive"**

* * *

**Title: **The Devil within

**Author: **Myself

**Co-Author: **-

**Fandom: **ABC Family's Pretty Little Liars

**Pairings: **Spoby, Emison, Haleb, Ezria, Tranna

**Spoilers: ** SE04 &amp; SE05

**Posting: **Romance/Drama/Mystery

**Rating: **MA

**A/N: **All characters of Pretty Little Liars belong to Sara Shepard and ABC Family ©

**Synopsis: **Alison's return to Rosewood inflicts each of the liar's life in an individual way. Whilst Emily has to deal with her undying love, Aria will go down a dark path and she's taking a few people with her. Hanna has to wriggle herself out of a love triangle and Spencer must do anything in her power to keep her family together after she finds a couple of skeletons in their closets.

* * *

**THE GIRLS**

Once again Rosewood was dressed in black. This time it was to honor the previously deceased Ms. Jessica DiLaurentis. The reasons of her death may rest in peace with her.

The girls had gathered in front of the church and watched the masses of people walk in. They recognized a lot of similar faces. After all, Jessica DiLaurentis' death seemed to have affected a lot of people. Ashley Marin approached them. "Hey, girls. How are you doing?" She asked comfortingly.

"We're okay", the responded in unison. They remained in silence for a while, then they eventually entered the church.

They hurriedly sat down when they noticed the funeral had already begun.

A pastor was reading from a prepared manuscript: "… and she will be in our memory as a caring mother, a loving wife and a loyal friend …

He went on, while the girls were busy examining the attenders of the funeral. Hanna noticed a familiar figure in the back of the hall. "Guys", she whispered. They all turned to face her. "Isn't that the woman that visited Wilden's funeral as well?" She nodded at a person in one of the back rows, completely dressed in black with a veil in front of her face.

"Do you think that might be big A?" Spencer asked.

"I don't know, but she seems to be involved with both Wilden and the DiLaurentis family. I don't really think she's here to pay her respects."

The woman eventually noticed the 4 girls starring at her and quickly got up.

"We have to follow her", Aria commanded. "Come on guys, get up."

"We are at a funeral. We can't just get up and run away" Spencer interjected.

"This may be our only chance to get some information. We'll make up an apology" Hanna responded, already rising from her seat.

The looks briefly turned to the 4 girls making their way out of the church, but soon enough focused their attention back on the pastor again.

"There she is!" Emily pointed at the running figure.

They kept on following her for about 5 minutes, when she managed to get into a black limousine. However, she had forgotten something on her way…

Spencer bowed down to pick up the tiny piece of paper. "Guys, I think this might be valuable information." She showed it to the other girls.

"It's an address" Hanna stated. "Wait, that address seems familiar." She thought for a minute. "It's the address for Noel Kahn's apartment!"

"Wha… but he couldn't have been in that dress. I mean, I know he has got quite the body, but to fit into that he would've to undergo plastic surgery", Spencer commented.

Emily's cellphone vibrated in her pocket. She quickly retrieved it without anyone noticing, since they were all busy discussing the possibility of Noel's involvement in the A-game.

New Message. _God, I hope it's not A_.

_From: Paige McCullers_

_Text: Hey, u have time to talk? If yes, meet me at the Grille in about 20 mins._

She frowned, and considered ignoring her, but since going back to the funeral wasn't an option after they had rushed out of there so unexpectedly, she might as well meet the other girl.

"But Alison said she trusted him, because, and I quote, 'Noel has secrets to' " Spencer said to Hanna.

"Yeah, maybe he just tricked her into believing him. I mean for all we know A is big on manipulation" Hanna responded.

"Hey guys, I gotta go. My mother wants me to run some errands for her" Emily informed the others.

"Me too. I am meeting Ezra's family in about 15 minutes at the hospital" Aria added.

**EMILY**

Seeing Paige after all that had happened felt sort of strange to Emily. Deep in her heart she knew that the girl still meant an awful lot to her, but obviously not enough. Maybe those feelings would've developed over time, but maybe Emily had just tried to talk herself into believing this. Truth was, Emily compared every relationship she had so far with her feelings for Alison. Nothing was ever quite as intense. Emily had sensed long before that she and Paige are not going anywhere specific in their future. It was a nice thing for the time being and she didn't rule out the fact that things could always change, but to be brutally honest she had always known that their relationship had an expiration date. Knowing that Paige would do something on purpose that would hurt Alison was just the final straw. And yes, Emily knew that she mostly did it because she wanted to protect her, but there was also some kind of ego-agenda behind that. Paige never stopped being jealous of Alison. She had her reasons though.

Emily didn't feel as heartbroken as she should have when she found that Paige had taken advantage of her trust. It was rather a feeling of foolishness for having trusted her with something so big and important.

"Hey." Paige forced a smile on her lips. "How have you been? I heard about the thing with Ms. DiLaurentis…"

Emily nodded. "Yes it … we were all very shocked. None of us had expected this."

The tension between them was almost tangible.

"Well, I hope you are still doing well nevertheless. I wondered if we … could … maybe talk about what had went down between us? 'cause I really feel like you didn't give me enough chance to explain."

Emily hesitated. She had made up her mind and nothing could really change that anymore. However, it might help her get her mind off Alison for a while. After all, it had helped before. Above that Emily would feel terrible for sending Paige away again.

She nodded. They took a seat in front of the coffee shop and ordered two Cappuccinos before they eventually started to address the matter.

"I just want you to know that my prior goal was to keep you away from the source of danger. I know that Alison may not be dangerous anymore, but someone is and that someone is always at her heels. This person had the intention to kill her and they still have. The may have killed Ms. DiLaurentis and all the other people too. And it was only a natural kind of reaction for me to keep you away from this person. By helping Alison you would have just provoked the anger of that psycho. I couldn't forgive myself to lose you because of your own blindness." (P)

"Alison is my friend and friends don't let outer friends down. She risked her own life to protect me, and now it is my turn to protect her" Emily declared matter-of-factly.

"Yes, I do get that, but you need to see it from _my_ point of view" , Paige tried to explain desperately.

Emily didn't answer. She gazed vacantly into the distance. "I understand", she said. "But it won't change my decision, I hope you know that."

"Why? I mean clearly there are some other reasons behind your decision. Don't tell me you didn't have an ulterior motive when we broke up."

"I … yes, maybe I do have other reasons. Maybe it's because we simply don't fit. Maybe it's because we are so different, that there is no way in hell that we'll ever understand where the other one is coming from. Maybe that is why" Emily reasoned sternly.

"Can't we just let go of that idea that people with different characters can't match?" Paige whined.

"Obviously not", Emily responded coldly.

"You know, I actually think you were just looking for any reason to end this. Me breaking your trust came in handy for you, didn't it? It was just a legitimate excuse for you to let go off me because you are still hunting a dream that'll never be a reality. Face it Emily, you can't let go of Alison and you never will."

Emily was clearly shocked that Paige had the nerves to say that to her face.

"I am not going to put up with this any longer. I gave you a chance to explain yourself, but_ this_ was definitely not my plan." Emily almost knocked over her coffee pot, when getting up.

"Emily!" Paige quickly followed her and grabbed her arm to turn her around. "Please…"

"I liked you, okay? Maybe I didn't like you as much as I had liked Alison, but there are reasons for that. But I happened to care enough for you that I wanted to make this work. Maybe I had just realized that despite my attempts it wouldn't work out in the long run. Maybe I wanted to spare you the hurt of a non-fixable relationship that would only keep going on because it was forced. Maybe I thought you deserved the truth."

Paige interrupted her. "But did I ever get that?"

"We had that conversation before, countless times. I think by know you must know why things had ended the way they did. I don't have anything to add to this conversation." She made an effort to free herself from Paige's grip, but the girl didn't let go.

"I loved you. I still do", she stated with a shaky voice and glazed eyes.

Emily didn't respond and Paige simply grabbed her face and pulled her in for a kiss. Emily didn't push her away at first, she soaked in the herb smell of Paige's perfume and her face twitched at the rough touch of the other girl. It wasn't a violent kiss, but it wasn't a tender one either. It felt both wanted and forced at the same time. After a few seconds, Emily broke the kiss and looked away. "I am sorry, Paige. I hope you know that I really am. But I can't, I simply can't."

With those words she walked away once and for all.

_**A**_**RIA**

When Aria arrived at the hospital, Ms. Fitzgerald and her younger son were already there, talking to Ezra's doctor. She checked her watch_. 15 minutes late. Well, one kind of a great impression I'm making_. She hesitantly walked towards them.

Wesley Fitzgerald recognized her in an instant. "Aria…" He pulled her into a tight hug. "You can't imagine how happy I am to see your face." Aria frowned. His affectionate behavior was a bit too much."

"Are there any news?" She nodded into the direction of Ezra's room.

"I dunno yet. My mother's still talking to the doctors. But I think I overheard them saying that his conditions have improved."

Aria took a deep breath. She felt so relieved at that moment, that she had the urge to kiss Wes right there and then. But then again, this would probably lead to an unpleasant reaction from Ms. Fitzgerald, who was standing merely a few meters away.

"Wow, you look like you're going to faint" Wes noticed.

"No, … no I am just so happy to hear that he is getting better."

Wes smiled, but he didn't seem as happy as he should be. Aria found that he almost looked a bit disappointed.

"Hey, if you're not busy afterwards, maybe we could grab a coffee?" She suggested in the desperate effort to cheer him up.

She reckoned that there might still be some uncertain feelings that he had for her and with Ezra gone, he thought that he would be the first go-to for her to compensate her feeling of emptiness.

He nodded. "Sure, I'd love to."

"Oh, Aria, I already thought you wouldn't come anymore" Ms. Fitzgerald approached her, her tone friendly, but her facial expression cold and derogatory.

"Yeah, I am sorry, I was a little late", she responded apologetically. She felt so incredibly uncomfortable around that woman.

Ms. Fitzgerald put on a fake smile. "No problem, my dear. Have you heard already? His brain activity has increased. They're hoping to wake him up soon."

Aria felt tears trickle from the corners of her eyes. This time Ms. Fitzgerald's smile almost looked genuine when she noticed the girl's reaction.

Aria was so full of emotions, that she even considered rethinking what she had just recently said to Hanna.

**SPENCER**

Spencer was busy with writing an English essay when a sudden noise attracted her attention.

She scanned the room. Her parents were at work and Melissa was presumably at the shopping center with friends of hers. Spencer frowned. She slowly rose from her seat, eyes focused on the door. She moved to the kitchen counter and took a knife from one of the drawers.

She felt a little stupid though. Why would anyone break into her house in broad daylight?

She cautiously laid the knife on the counter and headed towards the front door. When she opened it, she shrieked in surprise.

They were hugging so tightly that they almost couldn't breathe properly, but none of them cared at that moment. They were just happy to be reunited again.

Toby Cavanaugh had been away for a while to help get Spencer's sister back to Rosewood in order to support her younger sibling. He had received an anonymous tip about A's whereabouts and stayed in London to look for them. However, whoever had send the tip didn't really seem to know that A was always one step ahead.

However, right now at that very moment, none of this was important to him. He soaked in the fruity smell of Spencer's perfume, clinging to the girl like it was a matter of life and death.

"I've missed you so much", Spencer sobbed into his T-shirt. Her emotions had overwhelmed her the second Toby had stepped into her house. They parted a little, so that they could look at each other.

"I've missed you too" Toby answered and they leaned in for a passionate kiss.

"Nevertheless there are some things you need to know", Toby said, interrupting their long awaited reunion a few minutes later.

Spencer looked at him with a questioning look. "Did you find something out while you were away?"

They sat down on the couch in the living room and Toby softly took Spencer's hands in his own.

"I received anonymous messages. I still don't know if it's A and if not, who else it could be. But that person seemed to be on the good side rather than on the bad. They gave me some information that could be important."

He retrieved a few sheets of paper from his leathern shoulder bag. "Here."

Spencer looked at them one by one. They seemed to be similar to the letters she had received.

Most of them were information about A's possible whereabouts, which Toby seemed to have investigated already, but without success. However there were a few that piqued her interest.

"_Your mother's death wasn't an accident. They know."_

"_You need more than one to shut another one down."_

"_It all leads back to one place."_

The last one had a post-it on it that said "Radley?"

Spencer looked at Toby and pointed to the piece of paper in her hands. "You think they are really talking about Radley?"

Toby nodded. "I wouldn't know another place that would be of such great importance in this case. My mother was at Radley's, Mona was there, some blonde who could've been Alison or CeCe was there, Wren offered to work there, … do I need to say more?

"I was there…" Spencer added, still examining the letters. "Do you have any idea who wrote these?"

Toby shook his head. "Must've been someone who was involved with the A-Team I assume. But they obviously got so sick of their game playing hence they turned to the other side. That's for you to figure out."

"Why, are you going away again?" Spencer asked in fear.

"No I am not going anywhere", Toby calmed her down.

"Good, because I will hurt you if you do" Spencer responded, jokingly but roughly punching his shoulder.

"But I still need to run some errands, since I am back for good now. Meet me tonight at my place?" He put a gentle peck on her mouth.

Spencer nodded, pulling him closer for a more fierce kiss. "See you tonight."

She accompanied him to the door and once again their lips met, longing for each other's body heat.

When Toby took off, Spencer stayed at the open door for a minute, her eyes wandering through the area when they suddenly stopped at an unknown figure behind the curtains of the DiLaurentis house. She definitely spotted blonde hairs, but then again she had been wrong before.

With a frown, she vanished into her house.

**EMILY**

"You look exhausted" Alison noticed when Emily returned to the cottage.

Emily sighed in response. "I just went through an intense conversation with Paige."

Alison raised her brows. She seemed somewhat uncomfortable at hearing pigskin's name.

"And how did it go?" Alison observed Emily going to the fridge and retrieving two sandwiches.

"You want one?" She sat down next to Alison.

"No thanks."

Emily unpacked the sandwich and took a great bite off it.

"Well… we broke up a week ago. She didn't take it very well, and wanted to sort some things out."

"Why did you break up in the first place?"

"Uh … " Emily hesitated. She didn't really want Alison to know that Paige knew of her being still alive. "We just didn't see a future together. At least that was what I had thought. Apparently, she still had the feeling we could work things out and move on, but… "

"Sometimes it is better for both sides if one lets go", Alison answered.

Emily nodded. "Yes. I don't think I've made a wrong decision. But naturally it'll take time until Paige will come to terms with that." She paused for a moment, then changed the topic. "Anyway, I think we also have something to work out, don't we?" She tried to address the matter from yesterday.

Alison sighed. "Emily, I have made up my mind just like you did with Paige. As I've said, sometimes it is better for both sides if one lets go."

"Please explain to me how running away is any different from hiding? A has the needed tools to track you down wherever you are, it doesn't make a big difference if you are in New York or Rosewood. However, if you stay, we can help you. Together we are stronger."

"I am pulling you all into this. Helping me makes you possible targets."

"We've been that all along. A has started tormenting us right after you disappeared. There is no possible compromise with them. They obviously want us all to be gone or else they won't stop."

"But that was just Mona!_ This_ is different."

"Do you want my honest opinion? My honest opinion is that the second you are gonna step out of that door, A is gonna kill you." Emily knew she sounded harsh, but Alison needed to be convinced that her decision would put her into greater danger than she was in right now.

"Sooner or later they'll finish what they started anyway."

Emily sighed. She knew if Alison had made up her mind, it was incredibly difficult to have any influence on that.

Alison glimpsed at Emily who took another bite from her sandwich, grunting in annoyance, then laid it away.

The blonde wondered what she would think about right at that moment. She couldn't comprehend how someone could be as loyal as Emily. She would bet that every single one of the girls had at least considered sending her away again in order to protect themselves. It was a natural way to think for a human being. But Emily probably never had that thought. She was as loyal as a dog.

Alison let her thoughts wander. She had always sensed a special connection between the two of them, yet she couldn't describe the way she felt about the other girl. It ranged from completeness and comfort when she was around her, to abandonment and emptiness when she wasn't.

Alison mentally went back to the first time she and Emily had kissed. It hadn't aroused her nor had it meant more to her than a plain sign of affection between two very close friends. But then again it hadn't felt weird or anything like that either. On the contrary, it had felt as if everything fell into place at that moment. But when they broke apart, nothing had changed, at least not for Alison.

She wanted to try something, but the mere thought of it made her heart race. She moved a little closer to Emily without the other girl noticing.

Out of the blue, she asked "If I leave now and never come back, what would be the last thing you would say to me?"

Emily swallowed hard. She knew very well what she would say and with asking that question Alison had practically confirmed that those feelings she was trying to deny were indeed still here – and worse, more intense than ever. She could hear her own heartbeat, accompanied by the rhythmic sound of the clock.

She turned to face Alison, who had moved significantly closer to her. She could sense the warmth of the other girl's body and inhale the rosy scent of her perfume. The feeling she got from simply looking at Alison could never be compared to the way she had felt about Paige. There was so much more intensity, craving, passion …

Alison leaned closer. "Could it be possible that I already know the answer?" Alison whispered into her ear, her breath tickling Emily's skin. She felt a shiver running down her spine when Alison reached out and put her hand on her waist.

Emily was both scared and thrilled at the same time. She closed her eyes and just let it happen.

Time seemed to come to a halt when Ali's lips softly brushed against hers, an almost unnoticeable touch. When they were about to fully meet, a sudden noise broke them apart. It was the buzzing of Emily's phone, signalizing a new text message.

_"Can't resist the devil's charm, can you? - A_

**MELISS**_**A**_

"I told you. That was all I knew. I can't help you with this." Melissa was walking back and forth in the kitchen, her phone between her head and her shoulder. She got some salad out of the refrigerator and put it on the counter.

"I haven't talked to her in a while. I don't know." She put the plastic wrap off the bowl.

"I also didn't know anything about that. He came to get me, not the other way around." She paused for a moment and listened.

The voice on the other line couldn't be identified, but at that moment he or she seemed to be very upset about something.

Melissa still listened tensely.

"I see. Yes, I clearly understood you. But … "

She didn't get the chance to end her sentence as a click on the other line signalized that the other person had hung up.

There she was, torn between her past and the present. She knew she had done a lot of mistakes, but that didn't have to mean that she wasn't willing to make up for them. However, sometimes you only had a few chances and she had already wasted a lot of them.

She just wanted everything to be normal again. If there'd only be a way to go back in time…

_**A**_**RIA**

After a delighting conversation at the Brew, Aria got into Wes' car as he offered to drive her home. She found out that he actually shared a lot with his older brother, but then again there were subtle dissimilarities that reminded her that it was still Wes she was talking to, not Ezra. You could clearly tell that there was an age difference between the two of them, not just because Wes looked a lot younger, but also because he behaved a lot younger.

He was indeed good company and when they almost kissed a year back it might've been Wes who took the initiative, but it wasn't as if she had pulled away immediately. However, back then Aria was still head over wheels with Ezra.

There was some kind of sympathy she felt towards Wes, yet she couldn't really classify her feeling as 'possibly more than a friendship". But then again she was a very unstable state right now due to the recent events and she couldn't quite tell whether she could keep herself under control or not.

The car came to a halt and parked outside the Montgomery's house. They both exited and Wes accompanied Aria to her front door.

"I just want to let you know, that I had a great time tonight" he said. "I really do like you. And my brother was lucky to have you by his side", he added, smiling at her as innocently as possible.

"Yes, I had a great time to", Aria responded. She examined him more closely. _Hm, he sure is kind of cute. _

_The way he looked at her with eyes like a deer. _

"Would you push me away if I kissed you?" He suddenly asked.

Aria opened her mouth to say something, but she didn't really know what to answer. She was sure of her feelings for Ezra, even though her rationality told her to drop him like a hot potato after what he had done to her.

When Wes came a little closer, her mind automatically shut down. Maybe it was compensation, maybe she did like him, maybe it was something completely else … at that moment, she didn't care.

Their lips met hesitantly, but soon ached for more. Little did they know, that someone was following their romance from across the street.

Their kisses became rougher as time proceeded and Aria slowly but surely realized what was happening. She pulled away from the young male and looked ashamedly to the floor. "I think I should go now."

Wes nodded. He gently kissed her on her forehead and made his way back to his car. He looked back one more time, before he eventually took off.

A familiar noise came out of Aria's pocket. New text message.

_One's gone, take the next one. –A_

**THE GIRLS**

At 10pm the girls gathered at the lodge to discuss whether anyone of them had new information regarding the A-team. Spencer had informed them about Toby's return, but they decided to make it a girl's round only. However she would visit him right after to spend the rest of the night with him. Mona was invited to come too, but she was allegedly working things out with Aria's brother Mike. They'd check that later one, just to make sure Mona wasn't changing teams again.

"So, what do we have?" Spencer started the conversation.

Aria and Emily looked at the floor. Both of them received a message, but showing the content to the others would also mean telling them about something they didn't really feel comfortable talking about … yet.

"Oookay not all at once. Well, as you all know I talked to Toby today who was away in London. And he seemed to have received letters from someone giving him anonymous tips on A."

They all raised their eyebrows. Especially Alison seemed to be quite agitated about finding out what the letters were about. "What did you find out then?" She urged to know.

"Well, to conclude, we know that A has a definite connection to Radley and apparently to Toby's mom too. And we are not sure about this, but another message might have indicated that there are definitely more people behind 'A' than one. So, what we should be looking for are all people who could have possibly had something against you … something that would make a person want to kill you."

_Well, who's got the list?_ Hanna thought, but she didn't say anything due to Alison's presence. The girl however probably thought the same thing.

"We can proceed on the assumption that this person had been a resident at Radley sometime and is in some way connected to Toby's mother. So, who do we have?" Spencer floated the question.

"Mona would be the obvious answer. Can we assume that she is sure out of the A-game?" Aria contributed her idea.

"Really good question. There is no way in hell I am ever gonna completely trust that girl. But I am almost one hundred per cent sure she's not upper A. But there is a great chance that she knows who it is. Either she simply does not want to tell us or she's afraid of them" Spencer responded.

"What about CeCe? I mean she just pranked Ali's mom that time, but what if she had stayed at Radley before?" Hanna suggested.

"CeCe definitely has something to do with all of this. After all, she might be one of the few persons who knows of A's identity", Spencer said.

"Who can we actually rule out?" Emily questioned.

"Yeah, that's another good question."

"Noel is definitely innocent" Ali interjected.

"Is there a chance that you'll ever tell us Noel's secrets?" Hanna looked at Alison with a rather stern look on her face.

"It's complicated" Ali responded indifferently.

"Hey guys, I almost forgot to tell you, but I think I saw someone at the DiLaurentis house today" Spencer suddenly brought up.

"So what? Might've been Jason? Might've been Kenneth?" Hanna explained nonchalantly.

"No. It was someone with blonde hair, and I guess since you definitely don't want to be seen, we can rule you out, Ali."

"Except CeCe, who – for all we know – is sitting in jail right now, there are no other options, right? I mean, that person may as well have worn a wig, who knows, with A practically everything is possible…" Hanna tried to come up with an explanation.

"Maybe I just saw … something. I dunno. Right now I am not sure what's true and what's not anymore." Spencer gripped her pulsating temples.

"I know how it feels like …" Alison responded. She glimpsed at Emily, then looked at the other girls and lastly out of the window. "But I guess that's exactly what they want …."

_**A**_

Jason DiLaurentis looked right, then left. He made sure no one was following him, but well, you could never be sure these days. He turned around to check whether the curtains of his parent's house were closed. _Good, so no one can see her_, he thought and proceeded to walk, when he suddenly felt a stinging pain in the back of his head. In the split of a second everything around him went pitch black.

A black hooded figure eyed his unconscious body and checked his pulse. Then they took him by the ankles and pulled him to a nearby parked car. They tried to lift him into the car trunk but they weren't strong enough. With a wave of their hand they commanded another person to come over and help. With their combined strength they put his body in. Then they nodded at each other and got into the car.

A coughing could be heart from the trunk, when they car drove away.


	5. cAptivity

**The Devil within**

**A Pretty Little Liars Fanfiction**

**Set after 4x24 "A is for Alive"**

* * *

**Title: **The Devil within

**Author: **Myself

**Co-Author: **-

**Fandom: **ABC Family's Pretty Little Liars

**Pairings: **Spoby, Emison, Haleb, Ezria, Tranna

**Spoilers: ** SE04 &amp; SE05

**Posting: **Romance/Drama/Mystery

**Rating: **MA

**A/N: **All characters of Pretty Little Liars belong to Sara Shepard and ABC Family ©

**Synopsis: **Alison's return to Rosewood inflicts each of the liar's life in an individual way. Whilst Emily has to deal with her undying love, Aria will go down a dark path and she's taking a few people with her. Hanna has to wriggle herself out of a love triangle and Spencer must do anything in her power to keep her family together after she finds a couple of skeletons in their closets.

* * *

_**Q&amp;A**_

_**So, first of all, Wesley and Diane Fitzgerald have been in the previous chapter so since there is some story between Aria and Wes and Ezra is still hospitalized they'll appear a few times. However, as we can learn from my story description above, Wesley x Aria will not be a long-term relationship. #Ezriaalltheway! However, there was one thing which I will definitely take into consideration, namely Ezra's father to also have a short appearance.**_

_**Secondly, someone asked me to bring in Melissa. She has been in the last chapter, even though just for a very brief moment. However, she will play a very big role as the story goes on.**_

_**Thirdly Haleb WILL happen, but naturally it'll take time until both Hanna and Caleb have figured everything out, and Hanna's not gonna ditch Travis right away, because she's not that kind of person. But it won't be very long from this chapter on until they'll finally reunite.**_

_**Fourthly CeCe and the Black Widow also play a very important role in this story. They'll appear more often as the story proceeds. The Black Widow will be revealed in the finale of this story, but I will probably make another Fanfiction "SE06" where there will be more story about her involvement.**_

_**As for Courtney DiLaurentis, I am not going to reveal yet whether she'll be part of this story or not. Same goes for deaths of characters. All I can say is that the next person dying will be a couple of chapters ahead, so I think you might be able to figure out for yourself whether that person will be Jason or not. **_

_**But now, without further ado, Chapter 5!**_

* * *

_**A**_**LISON**

When she woke up, there was only one thing that occupied her mind. _Run, run as fast as you can._ The words resounded in her head time after time, whilst she silently gathered her belongings and stuffed them into a tiny leathern bag. She wrapped herself in a black coat, tied up her hair and covered them with a hood – a kind of camouflage that would hopefully suffice to keep her identity a secret.

A billion thoughts crowded her mind, when she slipped through the door. She could sense that anxiety was slowly but surely building up inside her. She shuddered at the icy coldness that greeted her as soon as she exited the lodge. Fog patches covered a major part of the area in front of her which made it almost impossible to watch out for possible dangers.

She sucked in a deep breath and risked the first step. A silent howl came from somewhere in the distance. She flinched at the sudden sound. _Come on, Alison, you can do this_, she tried to calm herself, but the mere possibility of A being out there somewhere, lurking in the bushes, ready to pounce at any given moment, made her hair stand on end.

Her cerulean eyes reflected sheer panic when she scanned the area around her attentively. The autumn leaves beneath her feet rustled with every step she took, and from time to time birds could be heard, communicating with each other in various pitches.

A click resounded and she whirled around abruptly only to find absolutely nothing behind her. Alison frowned. It had clearly sounded as if someone had accidentally stepped on a twig.

Her pulse quickened and her heart pounded against her chest like a raging animal. She could swear that someone was in her proximity. The tension felt like needles pricking her skin. A sudden nausea almost overcame her and her vision slightly blurred.

Another click. It needed nothing more than that to make her press forward with an instantaneous rush of strength and energy. Breathing heavily, she sprinted a slalom through the woods, occasionally tripping over roots hidden beneath the foliage.

It didn't take long until whoever was behind her, started to stick to her heels. She could clearly hear the sound of quickening footsteps merely a few meters behind her.

She tried to increase her speed, but it was too late. A single pair of hands emerged from nowhere and covered her mouth, preventing any attempt to call for help.

She violently tried to free herself from whoever was keeping her in captivity, but it only made the other person hold on to her more fiercely.

She eventually capitulated and her body went numb.

Then all of the sudden, her attacker let out a muffled moan. By the rather deep sound of it, Alison reckoned it was a male.

She could see a black hooded figure stumbling away rapidly in her peripheral vision. Then she turned to see who had hurried to her rescue.

* * *

"Wasn't it exactly as I told you?" Emily reprimanded the blonde who was still shaking with fear.

She had brought her back to the lodge right after she had found her in the arms of what seemed to be the same person they girls had seen on the rooftop when Ezra got shot. But then again, a black clothed person could be anyone from A to Z, even someone whose face they hadn't seen before.

For all they know, the A-Team could be an alliance with dozens of members or there could only be a handful of them. Fact was, there never was a thing they could say for sure.

"What were you thinking?!" She almost screamed at the other girl, simultaneously supplying her with a mug of hot chocolate.

"Here, you need to elevate your temperature a little. Your skin is cold as ice." She went away briefly only to come back with a woolen sheet.

Alison looked like every drop of blood had drained from her body.

"No, seriously, where did you think you would go?" She sat down beside the girl and looked at her intensively, demanding an answer.

"I … " Alison directed her gaze at the floor. "I thought I would make it through the woods and then …"

"And then what? Where would you have gone? Back to Noel?"

Alison didn't answer. She looked away and tried to hold back an imminent flood of tears.

"I don't know, okay? I feel as if I am bound in chains and A is just waiting for the perfect moment to take advantage of that."

"Alison! You are way too fragile to cope with this situation on your own. You need help, _our_ help."

"Maybe that ain't enough" Alison said bluntly, her face suddenly expressionless.

Emily swallowed hard at that remark. She was giving all of her energy and time away in order to protect the girl, she spent most of her time sleeping on a wooden floor in a freezing cold lodge, and then that was everything she got back. Without any further word, she stood up and went into the kitchen, leaving Alison alone with a rather unfamiliar feeling.

At first she had felt angry at herself for being so careless and naïve, but then her anger had subsided and the only thing left was pure emptiness.

"I am sorry" she said eventually, almost inaudible for the girl in the kitchen.

"What did you say?" The girl with the mocha complexion emerged from the kitchen. Her dark eyes scrutinized the blonde sitting on the couch, clinging to her mug.

"I am sorry" she repeated. "That came out a little different than I intended to", she added.

Emily hesitated. She didn't say anything, just looked at the other girl, trying to put a finger on her own feelings.

Just a day ago it had felt as if things would head into a direction she never would've expected them to go, but right now it just felt as if there was a thick, concrete wall between the two of them.

She missed that connection they once had, but there were so many things threatening to disrupt it even more and more as time proceeded.

The events of yesterday had ignited her flame of hope once again, but even though the fantasy she was still harboring might have a slight chance of becoming reality, Emily would never give up her friendship just to satisfy a long suppressed desire. Beyond that, she had dispatched Alison's ambivalent behavior towards her as simple curiosity. She couldn't get herself to believe that there was more behind it than the excitement of something 'new' and unknown.

Emily had spent her whole night contemplating her almost kiss with Alison. She eventually came to the conclusion that it hadn't meant anything in particular. Human curiosity, no more, no less.

The instantaneous rush of emotions she experienced at said moment were troubling and they frightened her in so many aspects. But Emily had managed to look at things from a more objective perspective and it made her realize that she was just grasping at nothing when she would hold on to this illusion of her and Alison being more than they were now and have ever been.

"It's okay", she finally said and sat back down next to the blonde. "I understand that all of this can be quite overwhelming at some times. But you are strong, I know that you are. You will get through this."

Alison looked at her. Emily couldn't quite tell the emotions behind her facial expression.

"I wish I could think as positive as you. But I am thankful one of us at least is optimistic." She smiled half-heartedly.

"Well, one of us has to be."

**SPENCER**

"This is nice" Spencer muttered into Toby's ear, softly nibbling on his earlobe. She was huddled up to the male and made little circles with her finger on his bare chest.

"I could wake up to this every morning", he answered, placing a gentle peck on her forehead and pulling her a little closer. He took in the pleasurable feeling of the warmth radiating from her body and sighed in content.

"Do you want some breakfast? I have a marvelous new recipe I am dying to try out" Spencer asked with an eager spark in her eyes.

"Yeah, sure. Go ahead. I'll get the paper in the meantime."

Spencer rose from the bed, yawning and stretching, and then scuffed into the kitchen. Toby watched her lean figure vanish through the door and smiled at her messy hair. He lifted himself off the bed shortly after and headed towards the front door.

What awaited him on the other side was more than shocking. He bowed down to lift the paper off the floor, making sure that he wasn't imagining this. He examined the title page with a frown. How could this have happened? Still bewildered and also subtly worried, he rolled it up and reentered the house.

"Did you know about this?" He tossed the paper on the kitchen counter, making Spencer flinch at the unexpected noise.

"What is it? You almost made me drop the pan." She turned away from the stove briefly to shot a glance at Toby's finding.

"Wait … what?!" She gestured that Toby should occupy the stove in the meantime, and scrutinized what the title page revealed.

_**Suspect has escaped prison**_ was printed in fat letters as a heading. Beneath it said

"The 23-year old CeCe Drake has been held in custody for the alleged murder of Detective Darren Wilden and her possible involvement in both the death of Alison DiLaurentis and her recently deceased mother Jessica DiLaurentis. It has now been revealed that she has managed to escape her cell. Her current whereabouts are not known to the police yet. It is presumed that she escaped yesterday noon."

Spencer stopped reading at this point. It was enough to know that CeCe Drake was on the loose again. The woman's motive was still unclear to the girls. Which side was she on? Was she working for or against A? Or did she have an own agenda, much like Mona? Speaking of which …

"This is … somewhat alarming" Spencer concluded, looking at her boyfriend worriedly. "You found some things out. Do you think CeCe is part of the A-team or not?"

"To be quite honest, I have no idea. She'd have reasons to be, but then again she used to be one of Ali's closest allies. She might as well have been helping her the whole time. Haven't you ever wondered why they would both wear a red coat? I have just recently thought about that. Couldn't it be a trick to mess with A?"

"I doubt that CeCe is the kind of person who would go as far just to prove her loyalty. Interesting theory though."

"What are we gonna do about this?"

"So far, there isn't anything we actually can do. At first it'd be helpful to locate her momentary hideout. Might as well be the DiLaurentis house again." Saying that out loud brought a memory back to Spencer's mind. The blonde she had just seen yesterday and thought she had hallucinated… could that have been CeCe? After all, the time would match.

She came to the decision that she would try to get in touch with Jason once more, even though the man seemed to be deliberately avoiding her and anyone else for that matter.

A familiar bleeping came out her pocket. She pulled out her phone and glanced at the display. _– Rosewood Police Department – _This definitely indicated trouble.

**H**_**A**_**NNA**

When Hanna thought about Lucas Gottesmen, she didn't see an inherently evil person. He was just a lost kid that didn't fit into the picture of today's society hence he tried to be heard in other ways.

His behavior was indeed suspicious and even though there may be other possibilities, Hanna was pretty sure that the person Lucas was talking to the other night was a member of the A-team or at least related to them.

Lucas had been there once and it wasn't too far-fetched that he would be there again since he and Alison had a troublesome past. He had every reason to hate her. However, Hanna didn't suspect him to have anything to do with her alleged death or anyone's death.

Regardless of that, Hanna had to get to the bottom of this.

She fumbled for her phone in her bag and as soon as she had found it, typed in a message.

She wasn't expecting him to give away everything he knew, but Hanna had a certain way to get the things she wanted, so there would be at least something she could get out of him.

Lately Hanna had thought a lot about the recent events. Alison being back had somehow inflicted all of their lives even though they sometimes didn't notice it. It was about the little changes that came with her reappearance.

Hanna mostly noticed how Emily's behavior had changed the instant Alison had rejoined the girls. It was so obvious that the girl still hugged the idea of her and Alison being more than friends. She had always thought of Paige as being second best for Emily, some kind of filling for the whole Alison had left when she had disappeared. To be brutally honest, Hanna didn't even like Paige. The girl seemed somewhat strange to her, not to say creepy. The incident at the pool, where Paige had tried to drown Emily out of pure enviousness, was proof enough that there was something majorly wrong with this gal. But then again, after a troublesome start, their relationship had indeed developed and reached a higher level of intensity. At some point Hanna even considered that Emily really was in love with Paige. But then Alison returned, and she had clearly seen the hopeful spark in Emily's brown eyes. How was someone able to love a girl like Alison that dearly? It wasn't as if Hanna did feel some kind of friendship-like love towards Alison, even though the girls sometimes didn't get along that fine, but to be as loyal as Emily was? Especially after what Alison had done to her, done to all of them?

Hanna hadn't yet grown accustomed to the fact that the blonde was now amidst them again. Frankly, she had liked it better when it had been just the 4 of them. Not that Alison would ever dare to insult her again like she did in the past, but it had felt so much more casual and now it was just … weird. It felt like their once so incredible group dynamics slowly but surely deteriorated.

Her train of thought was suddenly interrupted when her phone rang. Somewhat disconcerted, she looked at the display. – _Rosewood police department _– She had a vague feeling what this could be about.

**J**_**A**_**SON**

He couldn't move. He couldn't scream. Nothing seemed possible in his momentary state. He looked around dazedly, his surroundings were hazy and blurred. From what he could tell, he was in a rather large, sparse room with dim light and greyish colored, concrete walls. There were a few silhouettes of what could've been furnishing, but his vision was too weak to completely identify them as such.

He managed to lift his upper body a little. However, only a split second after he had to lie down again, because of the disrupting pain that streamed through his body. A muffled screamed escaped his lips and a single tear dropped from his eyes to the cold floor.

He could hear a noise from the distance which he couldn't quite classify since his senses were mildly impaired at the moment.

A creak appeared as if someone was opening a door somewhere, but Jason couldn't turn to scan the area. He suddenly felt frightened. His heartbeat quickened and he felt sweat beads forming on his forehead.

He heard footsteps, presumably heading in his direction. His suspicion was confirmed when someone bowed down to him and violently grabbed him by his hair in order to pull his head off the ground. He moaned in pain, but again his voice was depressed by the duct tape covering his mouth. Every muscle in his body seemed to ache but he couldn't tell where the pain originated from.

His eyes tried to identify his tormentor, but the only thing he could perceive was a figure dressed completely in black, their head and face covered by a hood.

Another stinging pain jolted through his body when the anonymous person ripped off the duct tape. However, he felt somewhat relieved as he could now finally breathe properly again.

After a few quick and uneven pants he felt like he was going to vomit right there and then.

Another person seemed to have entered his torture chamber. From what he could see, it was a woman, lean and tall, clothed in a red coat and with long, blonde hair. A few possible suspects who resembled her, shot through his head.

When the person eventually turned to reveal their identity, Jason knew not only who they were, but also that his fate was sealed. In this sick game, knowledge meant death. When he thought his last hour had come, he gasped: "I should've known it was you."

**C**_**A**_**LEB**

Raindrops sprinkled the window panes of the bus, heading in the direction of Rosewood.

Caleb Rivers' head was pressed against it and he curiously followed the stream of water one of the raindrops left whilst running down the pane.

Next to him sat a girl with short, fawn hair and a slightly darker skin tone, especially in comparison to the usually pale boy.

"How do you feel?" She asked him, comfortingly touching his shoulder.

"I am not sure how I am supposed to feel." He ran his fingers through his lank, dark brown hair, his look attached to his feet.

"Are you scared?" The girl probed.

He hesitated for a moment, before answering. "No, I am not scared. I am just unsure of her reaction. It's been a while, after all."

The girl nodded understandingly, retrieving her hand from his arm. "You did the right thing, and she will understand that", she said.

"Of course she will. But you know, time passed, and I am just hoping that she didn't compensate her loss of me with someone else while I wasn't here."

"Even if that is the case, her feelings for you have definitely not faded. They just need to be awakened again. Do you know what I mean?"

"Miranda … It's… it's complicated. You know, Hanna and I have been through a lot and there were things in both of our lives that made this relationship hard to maintain at that time. Many of those things we haven't worked out properly yet."

"I understand where you are coming from. I totally do. I just don't think that feelings which are as intense will ever vanish just because of some conflicts. You_ will_ eventually work this out together. And that is just going to be you and her, watching the sunset, hands entwined, looking into a wonderful future together."

Caleb couldn't help but smile at this imaginary scene. He looked at Miranda with a genuine smile. "Thank you."

**THE GIRLS**

When the 4 girls arrived at the police station, they already knew what was lying ahead of them.

"God, I can't believe this is happening again", Hanna moaned. "I just hope it doesn't take too long."

"Guys, before we go into there, I have to tell you something" Spencer announced secretively.

They 4 pierced her with demanding looks.

"CeCe has escaped prison."

"What?! How in the world did she do that?" Hanna exclaimed

"Beats me. All I know is that this raises my suspicion that she might be A or at least be involved with them."

"So, do you think they gonna … ?" Aria didn't get the chance to finish their sentence, as Detective Holbrook exited the department and greeted the 4.

"Hello, ladies. Mind to come in?" He led them through the door into 4 different interrogation rooms, so that none of them could have the least bit of an influence on what the other one was saying.

_**A**_**RIA**

The first to be questioned was Aria.

"Ms. Montgomery … as I've heard, you already tried to escape my colleague?"

Aria didn't respond.

"That's what I had thought." He sat down across from her at the table.

"Is there any reason why you did it? And silence isn't an answer."

"He was asking me about my private life which had absolutely nothing to do with the case", Aria said matter-of-factly.

"Well, since you and Mr. Fitz have been involved romantically and broke up just a couple of weeks ago, it just makes us think whether this had anything to do with the fact that he got shot. You know, there are a lot of cases where another man helps a girl to get rid of her lovers from the past."

"I loved him! I would've never done anything to hurt him like that." Aria regretted her emotional outburst only seconds after. She cleared her throat. "He knew something. Something he shouldn't have known. That is _why_ someone tried to kill him."

"Interesting … Do you mind telling me more about this?"

**SPENCER**

"One of the last persons to visit CeCe Drake at prison was you if I have heard correctly, Ms. Hastings."

"Yes, Sir." Spencer nodded.

"So, were you a close friend of her? Or …?"

"No… a friend of mine used to be."

"Are you referring to Alison DiLaurentis?"

"Yes I am."

"Do you know anything about the rumor that your friend is still alive?"

"I haven't heard of that, no, Sir." Spencer managed to stay composed or it at least made it look like she was, even though the tension was killing her on the inside.

"You sure?" He put a photograph on the table, depicturing the 4 girls aligned in a row, dressed in baroque fashion, in front of them no one other than Alison DiLaurentis in her universally known red coat.

Spencer swallowed hard. She indeed remembered that scenario. It was in Ravenswood, when Alison had first revealed herself to them. It was such an intense moment, filled with numerous emotions. It was difficult to contain herself, being confronted with this memory again, but she handled to maintain her composure.

"I am sorry, Sir, but I don't know about this picture. It is obviously a fake."

_**A**_**LISON**

In the meantime Alison was busying herself with reading through the news on the internet, processing the fact that CeCe had escaped prison. She still didn't know whether her old friend was to be trusted or not. She hadn't heard from her in a while and even though she had killed Wilden in order to protect Alison, she couldn't tell whether the girl was a two sided player or not.

Emily wrote her a message approximately half an hour ago that they were asked to the police station to answer questions regarding CeCe, Ezra and her mother. She was worried about whether the police knew that she was still alive, because if so, in their naïve opinion, they would want her to reveal herself to Rosewood and to practically put herself on the line for A. And then all they had to do was to pull the trigger.

She felt something vibrating in her pocket and fished out her cell. New message. That sign never bore good news

_How many lives does it take to get you out of your hiding place? -A_

But that wasn't all. Attached to the text message was a photograph. It took Alison a while to recognize the familiar features of her brother. Her eyes widened at his condition. Jason DiLaurentis was tied up, gagged and obviously in great pain. His shirt was stained with blood, his hair was soaked with sweat. His eyes were watery, indicating the torture that had been inflicted on his body.

Alison tried to hold back her tears, but they flood came naturally. A stinging pain went through the left side of her chest. She struggled for air. She knew she had to be silent so that no one would know of her residing in Ezra's lodge, but right now every suppressed emotion of hers just surfaced.

It was not only the sight of Jason, but the fact, that A had power over every aspect of her life. They tried to kill her, then they killed their mother and now they are about to kill her brother too. And _that_ was simply too much for her to take.

Still trying to control her breathing rhythm, she dialed Emily's number.

**THE GIRLS**

Their interrogations were put on a hold, as something had abruptly occurred, requiring the presence of their questioners.

The 4 girls were seated in one of the main offices, observing the officers around them dealing with their daily routines.

Spencer was the first rising to speak. "They have a picture of the blonde princess and their 4 companions at the town of black birds", she whispered.

Hanna looked at her with raised eyebrows. "Seriously, Spenc? What the fuck?"

Spencer rolled her eyes. "Figure it out. You know what I mean."

"I get it", Aria interjected. "But how they hell did they get this?"

"Well, my guesses are on the big bad drAgon", Hanna responded.

"Shh, guys… Listen." Emily pointed to two officers, one of them an overweight middle aged man with a funny looking beard, the other one slim and tall. They were only a few meters away from them and their voices could be heard clearly.

"Ya, so I've heard. But we can't unless Mr. DiLaurentis is going to give us his acceptance." One of the detectives said.

"Don't we have enough evidence to check the body without his confirmation?" The other one asked.

"Nah, not according to the rules, John, not according to the rules."

The girls looked at each other in shock.

"Why wouldn't Kenneth want to know whether his daughter is alive or not? Do you guys think he knows that she is indeed still alive or that he is simply covering for his deceased wife? Which wouldn't make any sense since she bit dust", Aria asked.

"You guys remember when Kenneth used to freak out on me because I told him I saw Ali the night Mona and I were trying to 'talk to the ghosts', right?" Hanna reminded them.

They nodded.

"Well, what if that was only because he _knew_ that Alison was alive and he didn't want his mother to know?"

"You do have a point there", Spencer noted.

"Excuse me for a minute", Emily said, raising off her seat and heading to the toilet.

Upon checking her phone she was shocked to find a couple of missed calls from Alison. She quickly dialed the girl's number.

**EMILY**

"What happened?" Emily questioned, eyes filled with panic at the sight of Alison, curled up on the couch, her eyes reddened due to the crying.

She had driven to the lodge as soon as possible when she had received Alison's call. The police had postponed their interrogation anyway, because of a case that came up while they were there, so she had been excused immediately.

Alison just stared apathetically at Emily in response. She didn't move nor say anything.

The other girl sat down next to her, pulling her into a hug. It felt like embracing a piece of rigid wood.

Alison was indeed somewhat paralyzed. The shock had set in so surprisingly, that her body was unable to cope with it. Obviously, its natural solution was to stay still for some time, completely still.

"Alison, you have to talk to me." Emily grabbed the girl by her shoulders.

In some weak effort, Alison turned her head to her phone, indicating that this was the reason for her reaction. She hoped inwardly that Emily would get her subtle hint.

She did. Emily scrolled through Alison's messages and opened the one from the anonymous number.

She almost dropped the device when she discovered Alison's source of shock.

It suddenly dawned on her how the girl must feel at that moment. She reckoned that there was no way, Alison could go on without professional help. In that instant she remembered a little secret she'd been keeping to herself for a while now, that might help her with this matter.

She quickly dialed a number, waiting for the person on the other line to pick up the phone.

"We're gonna get you some help", she said to Alison, softly stroking the other girl's shoulder. Seeing her in this state almost made her cry herself.

**H**_**A**_**NNA**

_"I can't. Got some stuff to take care off. – Lucas"_

Hanna put aside the phone, rolling her eyes in annoyance. "Little bitch", she muttered.

The guy had sparked her deepest suspicions even more with his ignorant behavior.

She wondered what he had meant by "stuff". Hanna couldn't figure out what he was up too, but she was even surer now that he was involved in the A-game again. Why else would he come back to a place that harbored his most terrible nightmares?

A sudden knock on the door caught her off guard.

She was flabbergasted, when she opened it up find a familiar, female face there, smiling at her like knocking on _her _door was the most normal thing to do in the world.

**EZR**_**A**_

Her touch was almost startling. Sudden, harsh, demanding. Her soft lips upon his, tasting salty from all the tears. Her arms around his neck, clinging to him like something could rip them apart at any minute. Her tongue bagged for entrance and he surrendered. A rush of hormones went through his body at the feel of her body pressed tightly to his own. He wanted to stop time, capture this moment and put it away somewhere safe.

He knew it was just a dream, but did that mean he was alive or was this how the paradise high above the clouds would feel like? Because if so, he'd prefer to stay.

_**A**_

_When the lights went out, it was his time to strike._ A dark figure wandered through the hallways of the hospital. The main part, located on the opposite side of this building, was still lightened which he could see through the window.

_Oh how he had missed this place_. Black gloves wandered over the glazed doors of the hospital chambers.

But there was no time for reminiscing right now. He was here to get something done.

At room 509 he came to a halt and peaked inside. _Gotcha_.

He pulled out a little glass bottle with a transparent fluid inside. He put in on the bedside table and retrieved another thing from his pocket. He revealed a terrifyingly big syringe which he put into the glass bottle and filled it with the highest possible volume. Then he walked towards the IV bag of the patient situated in this room. _This was as easy as one, two, three,_ he thought and put the fluid into the bag.

He packed up his stuff and vanished as quickly as he had come.

Within seconds, an alarm went off and the lights went on. Before he eventually left the building he looked behind his shoulder to see a couple of doctors hurrying to room 509.


	6. Decisions

**The Devil within**

**A Pretty Little Liars Fanfiction**

**Set after 4x24 "A is for Alive"**

* * *

**Title: **The Devil within

**Author: **Myself

**Co-Author: **-

**Fandom: **ABC Family's Pretty Little Liars

**Pairings: **Spoby, Emison, Haleb, Ezria, Tranna

**Spoilers: ** SE04 &amp; SE05

**Posting: **Romance/Drama/Mystery

**Rating: **MA

**A/N: **All characters of Pretty Little Liars belong to Sara Shepard and ABC Family ©

**Synopsis: **Alison's return to Rosewood inflicts each of the liar's life in an individual way. Whilst Emily has to deal with her undying love, Aria will go down a dark path and she's taking a few people with her. Hanna has to wriggle herself out of a love triangle and Spencer must do anything in her power to keep her family together after she finds a couple of skeletons in their closets.

* * *

**THE FITZGER**_**A**_**LD'S**

A team of physicians stormed the patient's room, armed with various medical equipment. A monotonous bleeping sound could be heard and in the next second 2000 volts jolted through Ezra Fitz's body in a desperate attempt to take him back from the verge of death.

"One…two…three." A second jolt followed quickly. Still no vital sign. "Charge to 2500." This time the ECG curve showed some activity.

"Got him", one of the doctors said and laid the defibrillator aside. "What a lucky guy", he whispered to himself, observing the various devices that monitored the man's current medical condition. "Talk to Dr. Harpersworth. The patient needs to be checked on an hourly basis, at least for today. Dr. Genpole, we need a blood sample and a tox-screening. Something tells me that this was an intended emergency."

The following day, the Fitzgerald family was ordered to the hospital to be informed about the outcome of Ezra's blood analysis and his momentary condition. Dianne was very surprised to find that her former husband had chosen to accompany them. Mr. William Fitzgerald was tall, lean and dressed in a black tuxedo and wore a blue tie. His hair was flecked with grey, but his facial features made him look a lot younger than he actually was. He appeared cold and standoffish and walking aside him in silence was everything but comfortable for Dianne. The youngest member of the Fitzgerald family, Wesley, was perplexed to see his father again after such a rather long time. However he didn't dare to invade his privacy by asking questions about how his life had been since he had left. Although he actually had every right to ask this kind of questions.

* * *

They arrived at the hospital just in time to meet with Ezra's doctor. Dianne was ushered into his room together with her son and William. He closed the door after them and pulled the curtains in front of the glass.

"What is all this secrecy about? Why did you want to meet with me?" Diane inquired to know, a little bit outraged.

"Ms. Fitzgerald, the information I am going to tell your family now is confidential and I must ask you to promise not to forward this to a third party."

Dianne knitted her brows in obvious confusion and hesitated for a second, before she answered. "Yes, we promise." She glanced at her son and William. They both nodded in acceptance and repeated her answer to fully assure the doctor.

"Good." He made a long pause. "Your son, Ms. Fitzgerald, has been the victim of an attack. We believe to have found traces of Potassium chloride in his blood stream. There is no possibility that it was delivered to his body in a natural way, so we assumed someone must have injected it. Based on our assumption we ordered our security team to check the camera footage taken between 22pm yesterday night and 2am in the morning. What we discovered was a black hooded figure at one of the entrance areas. The camera footage for this section of the hospital was missing, because someone had obviously gotten to the cameras before they even had the chance to record something. That is all the evidence we got so far, but the police has already been contacted to investigate this further. However it is our obligation to inform you about the incident as this will probably elongate Mr. Fitzgerald's healing process."

Dianne turned paler with every sentence. Behind her, William's mouth slightly opened upon hearing the dreadful news and all Wesley could think about was that he would need to keep this away from Aria. He knew it was more than bad to think of this as an opportunity for him to free the girl from her feelings for his older brother and to take his spot instead, but he did it out of love, or so he thought.

"Hey, u up for a movie tonight? Wes" he quickly typed into his cell and forwarded it to Aria, quickly dispersing it before the doctor would think he was sharing confidential information.

**H**_**A**_**NNA**

Hanna was still pondering why Miranda had showed up at her front door the other day. The last time the blonde had seen the girl was when she and her friends were trapped in the underground residence of Carla Grunwald in Ravenswood. And shortly after that Caleb had decided to stay there for the long-run which ultimately ended with months of processing the fact that her relationship had broken due to reasons still unknown or at least unclear to her. She reckoned that Caleb had simply fallen for someone else, maybe Miranda?

However, upon questioning her mission, Miranda simply stated that she was visiting a friend in Rosewood and decided to drop by for a short visit. When Hanna asked how she had find her house, she stayed silent and changed the topic. And if that wasn't enough, the girl had actually asked her whether she could stay here for a night or two, because a hotel would be out of her financial league. Hanna eventually agreed, even though she doubted the girl's words.

And now here they were, sitting on the kitchen table opposite of each other, sipping on freshly brewed coffee and nibbling on a Cronut.

"I think it is about time to inform you about my real agenda, Hanna" Miranda said out of the blue.

Hanna raised an eyebrow, curiously awaiting the girl's explanation.

"Is there any chance you already know why I am here?" She put down her mug and mustered the other girl.

"No…did something happen?"

"Well, before we get into this, lemme ask you a question…:"

"O…okay." Hanna looked at her in utter confusion.

"How do you feel about Caleb?"

_What? Did she just really ask that?_ Hanna clenched her fists without noticing. Her muscles tensed automatically and her facial expression turned to stone. "Why the hell are you asking?" She sounded a lot more unfriendly than she intended to.

"I … I am sorry. It's just that … he is kind of …" She looked around the room as if looking for the right words.

"Would you just finish the fucking sentence already?" Hanna urged.

"He is back in Rosewood and he wants to make amends for what he did to you" Miranda said as fast as possible, feeling kind of threatened by the blonde's sudden change of demeanor. She grabbed her coffee and slurped loudly to fill the awkward silence that had followed her revelation.

Hanna looked away in thought. She expected a million thoughts to infiltrate her mind, but to her surprise this wasn't the case. She _felt _something, but it was more of a numbness than a rush of emotion.

She took a deep breath and turned to Miranda again. "So, he is sending _you_ to calm the waves beforehand or what?"

"No… He is just… He didn't ask me to come here. It was my idea. I thought, maybe if you had someone to talk to about this first, you wouldn't say anything on impulse when you would address the matter with him personally."

Hanna laughed scornfully. "I know that he didn't want to hurt me. And I am not holding a grudge against him, but this is just ridiculous."

"Hanna… Caleb really cares about you… He had his reasons to stay in Ravenswood, and you can trust me when I say, those things didn't involve him seeing another girl."

"I want Caleb to tell me that. He will get his chance to explain everything to me. As I've said I don't hate him for what he did. Surely I had quite a rough time after he had left, but I moved on."

"Moved on as in … you found someone else?" Miranda frowned. This wasn't exactly good news for Caleb.

"Well, I am seeing someone right now. Things haven't gotten serious yet, but it's only been a couple of weeks, so yeah", she responded bluntly.

"Soooo… you aren't thinking of getting back with Caleb?" Miranda tossed the last bite of the Cronut into her mouth. She was starting to reconsider whether this had been a good idea.

"Wha… what the hell, you can't just decide that within a few minutes. I loved Caleb and maybe I still do, but I can't just jump right back into his arms, just because he has decided to reverse his decision. This will need some time. And I can't tell you what I will decide on. This is just … gosh, I need another Cronut."

She swiped another one of the pastries from a tiny basket in the middle of the table and took a big bite.

Miranda nodded understandingly. "I see. But just keep in mind, that he will always be there for you, independent on the decision that you're gonna make. He has never loved somebody as dearly as he loves you. And a love that pure and true is something rarely to be found."

"Blabla", Hanna simultaneously chewed on the last bite of her Cronut.

"Hey, I can call him if you want and you can settle this, kay?" Miranda suggested, already fishing out her phone from her pocket.

Hanna hesitated. The mere thought of seeing Caleb after all that time was making her nervous. She couldn't yet define how she felt about this … thing, that had just been revealed to her, and she was afraid she was going to say or do something in the heat of movement that she would regret later on.

However, she was dying to find out what Caleb had to say. To be quite honest, the least he owed her was an explanation.

**EMILY**

Emily had been through a lot since A's first message. Of course on one hand most of the things had only led to her becoming a much stronger person, but on the other hand it had destroyed her in ways unimaginable to others. She had her friends and she used to have Paige to confide in and talk to whenever she felt that things were getting on top of her, but since those people had enough things on their own plate, Emily needed another person she could turn to.

She found that person in Dr. Anne Sullivan.

The female psychologist always seemed to carry a special interest in the 4 girls' case and she had been through a lot herself by trying to help them. Emily had kept in touch with her after she had tried hypnotherapy on her and they would occasionally write each other e-mails. Emily had sometimes asked for a private therapy session which she paid with the money she had saved up from her job at the Brew. Anne would sometimes even treated her "pro bono".

In a moment of despair, she hadn't known anyone else who could help her with Alison's current situation. They girl had clearly suffered severe mental damage from all the harassment A had done to her.

Thus the Canadian had called Dr. Sullivan in an instant and informed her in brief of what had went down in Rosewood and why she would need her help. She had been surprised to learn of Alison being still alive and the whole situation seemed to worry her a little, but she had lastly agreed on making a house-visit to talk to the distraught blonde.

Emily had then sat down next to Alison and told her that she had asked someone to help her. In the beginning, the girl seemed to be shocked about the fact that Emily was willingly giving away information about her being still alive, but when Emily explained to her that it was Dr. Sullivan she had called, she calmed down. She still hadn't said a lot yet, but she had managed to muster up a weak smile.

**SPENCER**

"I haven't told you about the letters", Spencer said out of the blue, earning a confused look by her boyfriend.

She rose from her bed and made her way to the cupboard. She retrieved two envelopes from one of the drawers which were buried underneath her underwear.

"Interesting place to hide", Toby commented, suppressing a chuckle.

Spencer handed him the letters and he eyed them cautiously. "

"Do you think we've been contacted by the same person?" Spencer finally asked.

Toby pressed some air through his lips and examined the letters more closely. "The address of the P.O. is different but other than that, yeah, I think that could've been the same person."

Their investigations were interrupted by a noise coming from the front door.

"Spencer? Are you home? I forgot my keys" Melissa's voice ringed from outside.

The girl got up hesitantly, shooting Toby a few glances before heading to the door. She didn't expect her sister to come home that early and since they still couldn't exclude her as a possible A-suspect, she and Toby would need to continue their conversation elsewhere.

She turned the knob and met her sister with a fake smile.

"Thank you", the brunette muttered and passed her sister. "If you don't mind, I have to take an important call. And I'd like to do that in privacy", she informed the couple, already dialing a number so as to say that they should leave immediately.

Toby grabbed the letters, hit them under his pullover and followed his girlfriend outside.

Melissa double-checked whether they were still in her proximity and when she was sure, she laid away the phone and paced back and forth, obviously waiting for someone

In the meantime Spencer and Toby had squatted beneath one of the houses' windows. Spencer raised to spy through the glass and raised an eyebrow, wondering why her sister had put aside the phone. The next thing she knew, Melissa hurried to the back door and came back with no one other than CeCe Drake.

Spencer couldn't prevent her jaw from dropping automatically at this sight. "What's happening?" Toby inquired to know, still huddling on the ground.

Spencer had racked her brain for theories on why this didn't mean anything specific, but given the current situation, it had to. She had been trying to trust her sister, but every word that came out of her mouth was a lie. Something inside the girl turned to stone and at that moment there was nothing else she felt for Melissa, but hatred.

"I am going in there", Spencer said with an alarmingly enraged voice, already threatening to leave their hiding position, when Toby pulled her back fiercely. "You can't go in there, are you crazy? This is not going to get us anywhere. Just tell me what you saw and we'll discuss it in peace."

Spencer took a deep breathe, before she was even able to talk without her emotions surfacing. "She's in there with CeCe Drake."

Toby's eyes widened. "You sure it's CeCe?" He asked.

"The devil's face is kind hard not to recognize" Spencer responded bluntly.

"Well, maybe it's a friendship thingy?" Toby tried to find a positive explanation, clearly without success.

"Yeah, sure", Spencer hissed. "More like an A-club-membership-thingy".

Toby put his hand comfortingly on Spencer's shaking body, softly rubbing her arm through the fabric of her cardigan. "Glaring through the windows ain't gonna get you any closer to what they are up to."

"I have to talk to Jason. He is one of the few people CeCe had a closer relationship to and I bet he knows more about her involvement. He might even know about Melissa. I need to get to the bottom of this as soon as possible." She rummaged in her pocket to find her cell and dialed Jason's number. After a minute of waiting, she hung up and tried again. And again. And again.

"Spence, he obviously doesn't want to be reached", Toby tried to talk some sense into the girl.

"I don't care what he wants!" Spencer snapped back, almost a tad too audible.

"Why don't you try to get into his house? I bet he keeps an extra-key under his doormat or something", Toby said, more jokingly than seriously.

"Yeah, why don't I do that, why don't I do that right now?" Spencer asked, her face still reddened with anger, and judging from the look on her face she was willing to kick-in the door to the DiLaurentis house.

**H**_**A**_**NNA**

He walked inwards like a deer, fearing to be shot by her, the hunter. Hanna stood there, motion- and expressionless. She had tried to mentally prepare herself for this moment, but that was easier said than done. She shifted her look to a spot somewhere to her right to avoid meeting his eyes.

"Hanna…" he raised his voice softly.

The girl swallowed hard. Maybe this was too early. Maybe she would have needed more time to process the fact that he was back…for good.

"Can I … can I just hug you?" He was now only half of a meter away from the girl, eyeing her with a worried look on his face.

Hanna didn't respond, she simply stood there, arms crossed in front of her chest, as if she was trying to guard her innermost part. Eventually she raised her head to face him, and nodded slowly.

He walked one last hesitant step towards her, closing the gap between them, and eventually swung his arm over her shoulder to engulf the girl in a tight hug.

_Too much_. Hanna felt tears sting in her eyes and she forced her eye lids down to keep the fluid from trickling on his shoulder. She couldn't resist the urge to bury her nails in his back. He flinched at the sudden pain, but he didn't let go.

"I er… gonna leave you two alone", Miranda said awkwardly from somewhere at the back of the room. She smiled briefly at Caleb and then went out of the door, leaving the two to themselves.

"You can't even imagine how much I've missed you", Caleb whispered into her ear which made it even more irresistible to hold back her tears.

"Don't…", she managed to mutter. She freed herself from the boy's grip and took one step aback, once again covering her upper body with folded arms, her look fixated on the floor.

"Hanna… just gimme a chance to explain. I don't expect you to forgive me right away, but I know, that deep in your heart you know that_ this_ is meant to be, no matter what."

He reached out to take her hands, but Hanna showed some reluctance. She gave in at last, but mostly because she didn't want to be one of those resentful bitches who would preach one for their mistakes forever.

They sat down on the couch in the living room, Caleb still not letting go of her hand.

"It's important that you'll listen to everything I have to say without interrupting, is that okay with you? I'll tell you when I am done and then it'll be your turn to tell me what you think." He looked her deeply in the eyes, almost drowning in a deep blue ocean.

Hanna nodded.

"So, let's start at the very beginning…"

_**A**_**RIA**

Aria still hadn't wrapped her head around what went down with Wes and why she had even permitted him to kiss her whilst his brother and her ex-boyfriend was still in a coma, rotting away in a hospital bed with only a dim chance of ever waking up.

Sure, the doctors had told that his condition was slowly improving, but Aria had watched every episode of _Grey's Anatomy_, so she was aware of the fact that medical conditions could change at any time. After all, Ezra had suffered severe damage from his gunshot wound.

Frankly, you could say he was already dead. It seemed a little cold to think so, but there was some kind of truth to it. A lot of patients remain in this comatose state for years, simply because their dependents are unable to let go, but in fact those people had already vanished from this planet. They only thing that keeps their vital functions on a life-maintaining level are tons of machines and devices, wired to what used to be a lively human being, a person with a story to them, with emotions, good and bad, but what's left of them then is only an empty shell. Their heart kept beating, because the primitive areas of the brain were still active, but the important ones – those who bore all the memories, moments, feelings – were dead, plain dead.

She wouldn't give up on him yet. She would probably never do. She could perfectly well picture herself in a few years from now, still sitting at his bed, brushing strands of hair from his face, whispering loving words into his ear and hoping that someday he'll respond to them.

However, the thing she needed to concentrate on right now was how things would continue with Wesley. He wrote her a message a couple of hours ago, obviously asking for a date and she hadn't yet replied.

Wesley was a nice guy, he really was. He had a lot from his brother, both the looks and parts of his character and if she hadn't met Ezra, she would've loved to go out with him, but giving the circumstances, it did seem kind of … strange.

But then again, what would she have to lose? She had broken up with Ezra before the accident and her actual agenda was to leave her relationship with him behind her but after the recent events it was kind of hard to actually carry out her plan. But being with Wesley would constantly remind her of Ezra – so she would either see him as Ezra all the time and when he acted differently, she would probably lash out on him for not being his brother, _or _seeing him would always bring back the memory of her relationship with Ezra and she would spend most of her time crying in the bathroom instead of actually being with Wes.

_Wow._ She couldn't remember having ever been so pessimistic in her life. _What the heck, just do it_, she thought to herself. What's the point in holding yourself back when life's so rich of opportunities?

**SPENCER**

Spencer had to hold back a laugh when she actually found a second key under the doormat. Such stupidity was usually only seen in movies, but then again, why would she bother? It came in handy right now.

She opened the door and hesitantly walked in, looking to her right and to her left to check whether there was any sign of Jason or anyone else.

"Jason? Are you here?" She tried, but didn't get a response.

She silently closed the door behind her and eyeballed the living room. Everything was as neat as it had been when Ms. DiLaurentis had lived here. The kitchen was almost suspiciously clean. There were no used dishes or unfinished food items lying around. At some point she even considered the possibility that Jason didn't even stay at his old premises. He might've hunkered down in one of his pothead-friends' places. Or maybe he hadn't even settled down here again and was just visiting Rosewood for God knows which reasons.

She proceeded with her investigations upstairs and checked every single room, including the toilets and the storeroom. Before she entered Alison's former room, she came to a halt. For some reason, this room never stopped being creepy. It was almost as if it was haunted by evil spirits. Spencer mentally scolded herself for behaving like such a chicken. _Evil Spirits, like seriously? _But the uneasy feeling wouldn't go away, even when she had mustered up the courage to walk inside. She shivered, even though it was quite muggy outside for this time of the year. She was just about to leave when she noticed something on Alison's bed. A pile of clothes. _Nothing unusual_, Spencer thought, picking up a pink blouse. … _if Jason would be a secret tranny_, she added mentally. Now she was almost one hundred per cent sure that the blonde she had seen at his window wasn't some kind of hallucination. Even though she couldn't just assume that it had been CeCe, it seemed very likely. The two of them _had_ a past and it would make sense if Jason was trying to help her. Maybe he didn't get over her dumping him and was attempting to get her back?

Logically, this guaranteed Jason a higher range on the A-suspect-list.

Spencer rummaged through the clothes with the hope to find something that could tell her more about the person who owned them. Judging from the style, it could have definitely been CeCe. Amongst blouses, two ripped jeans and a few tees, Spencer even found some underwear. Maybe Jason just had someone over to well … satisfy his needs? Or maybe he had a girlfriend? After all, CeCe and Alison weren't the only blondes in Rosewood, so directly accusing Jason of having a pact with the devil … er… CeCe, was kind of a precipitant judgment. Sure the boy had some secrets, no doubt there, but so far he hadn't done any harm to the girls, so why would he work against them then?

But then again, he could be just as manipulating as his half-sister. Manipulation obviously ran in the Hastings family.

**H**_**A**_**NNA**

Hanna had to admit that, when Caleb eventually left, she felt kind of empty. Nothing and no one had managed to cheer her up. Not the cute text Travis had sent her, not the third Cronut she had scoffed – which she now regretted -, and not the "100 funniest ads of the world"-series, nothing.

She had listened attentively to the story he had to tell, and Hanna now understood, at least mostly. There were a few things she still found a little strange, but people were different and had different views on different things – so it was only normal to think of something as strange when another person didn't.

To be brutally honest, Hanna wanted to tackle him during his speech and kiss him until they couldn't breathe anymore, but she didn't want to be easy and she wasn't the kind of person that would cheat on someone else just because she couldn't control her lust anymore.

Technically, Travis and her weren't together, but they were … something. She has actually developed feelings for the guy and she cared about him, even if those feelings would never ever reach up to those she had for Caleb. But after all, he was the one who cared for her, when Caleb didn't.

Thus she told the boy that she still needed to overthink everything. She wanted Caleb, she wanted him so much, it was almost unbearable to stay away from him since he had come back.

Hanna's emotions had so rapidly changed from complete numbness to a rush of hormones that it was becoming increasingly difficult for her to cope with it.

She sensed a noise coming from her door and since she didn't await someone in specific, she reckoned it was her mother coming home from her work.

"Hey sweetie, I brought some Chinese food, you want any?" Ms. Marin entered the house with two full bags of deliciously smelling treats. Hanna had to distance herself from the bags to not succumb to the seductive odor.

"Nah, thanks, I am not hungry", she lied, sipping from a glass of tap water.

"What's wrong? You look so…exhausted", her mother noticed and sat down on the opposite side of the kitchen counter. She was still clothed in her usual business attire – black pantsuit, white blouse and to add some color for a change, a light greyish blue silk scarf.

"Well, I had quite an interesting day", Hanna responded, gulping down the last bit of water. _God, how she craved a cool glass of lemonade right now. _Stressful situations always led to her falling back into old patterns. However, it used to be worse. Now she possessed at least a little bit of discipline that kept her from raiding the fridge.

"So? Tell me what happened?" Her mother probed.

"Mh… guess who's back?"

"Puh… to be quite honest, with you girls that could be anyone, including the dead", Ashley responded, obviously referring to the rumor of Alison being alive which she had heard from the Hastings. Too good she didn't know it wasn't just a rumor.

"Think hard."

Ashley Marin slightly opened her mouth when she realized whom her daughter was talking about. "Ohhh…" She nodded knowingly. "And what did he had to say?"

"Lots of things, actually. Why he went away, why he had chosen to come back,…" She had obviously wanted to add something to her sentence, but decided not to.

"So, not to be too nosey, but are you guys getting back together?" It almost felt like talking to one of her friends. At that moment, Hanna was glad that she had such a good relationship to her mother, well, most of the time.

"I don't know. I mean, I want to. But I want him to … you know…"

"To court you?" Ashley filled in the missing words.

"Yes… kind of. I don't wanna be the kind of girl that is convinced so easily. I want to be earned", Hanna explained. "Plus I don't want to ditch Travis with the excuse that 'my true love came back and I don't need him as a compensation anymore'."

"I see. But I honestly think he'll understand. It might take time, but he will accept that Caleb is the one for you. It doesn't have to mean that you didn't care for him as well. You two would have been a good match, but you and Caleb … it's like a really cheesy novelette. You two belong together, I think _we both_ know that." She smiled at her daughter and brushed comfortingly over her shoulder.

The corners of Hanna's mouth lifted up for a second. "Thank you", she said with warmth in her voice. They hugged briefly and Ashley went up to her room, turning to Hanna one last time: "And I know you want that Chinese food. Don't worry, it's low-carb." She winked at her and then walked upstairs.

_**A**_**RIA**

"Hey", Wes greeted shyly. He was dressed in a white shirt covered by a blue jacket with golden buttons, beige trousers and black loafers.

"Wow, someone's fancy today", Aria commented jokingly and offered a hug. She herself wore a casual dark grey shirt, ripped jeans, a sleeveless, black vest and dark-brown boots. A necklace with a pendant in form of an owl adorned her cleavage.

He laughed uneasily and scratched the back of his head.

"Let's go?" Aria motioned for him to follow her into the cinema.

The news from today still lingered in the back of Wesley's head and Aria's sudden change in behavior was worrying him. Did she know? Was she so nice to him on purpose? Not that he wouldn't think of Aria as a nice and friendly girl, but not that long ago she had seemed rather distanced and cold. He tried to convince himself that she might be acting like that to overlay the fact that deep inside she was actually still hurting. Whatsoever, he was going to get the most out of this night and enjoy it, and maybe she would too.

It took them only a few minutes to get the tickets and a grand bucket of popcorn. They seated themselves in the back row and Aria placed the popcorn between them as if she was marking the borders that mustn't be crossed. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat and cleared his throat audibly. Aria glanced at him, taking in the sight of his soft facial features. Noticing her eyes on him, he turned to look at her and smiled briefly.

Aria didn't really catch a lot of the movies' plot. She stared blankly at the screen, her mind crowded with thoughts. She felt his fingers brush against her since they both had their arms on the same armrest, and felt a light tingle.

"S…sorry", Wes whispered when he registered that Aria had quickly pulled her hand away. There was an almost invisible shade of red on his cheeks and he put his own hand down to avoid more 'unwanted touching'.

"You know…you don't have to do this", he turned to her and she winced at the sudden feel of his warm breath against her skin.

"But I … I want to", Aria said, although not entirely sure. She fixated his fleshy lips and her eye lids lowered a little.

"Do you really?" Wes asked, moving closer. He didn't sound so unsure anymore.

They approached each other slowly, until the gap between them eventually closed.

Wes tasted like a mixture of salt from the popcorn they had been eating and something else she couldn't quite define. Their movements were shy and slow at first, when they were teasingly gliding their own lips against the lips of the other person, but things got more passionate with every passing minute. Aria felt his tongue begging for entrance and she opened her mouth slightly as a sign of permission. She had her hands pressed on his chest and moaned silently in his mouth as his hands began to explore her body. She didn't even think of anyone watching them, she simply didn't want to care… about anything…at all.

She felt her phone vibrating continuously in her pocket and even though she tried to ignore it at first, it became so nagging at some point, that she broke the kiss and pulled it out of her pocket to look at the new message she had received.

_"Guess your new boyfriend is also a pretty little liar. –A"_ Attached was a photograph of what seemed to be medical records. Aria quickly read over the lines and her eyes widened. It was taken out of Ezra's file and documented an intended intoxication that caused his heart to stop beating for a dangerously long time.

"You okay?" Wes asked, his hand still on Aria's thigh.

She needed some time to fully realize what she had just found out. "Did you know about this?" She hissed and shoved the phone violently in his hands.

He felt his heartbeat increase as he realized that she _knew_. "I …" He couldn't even think about an explanation at that moment.

Aria rose from her seat, pondered whether a slap in the face was too much drama after they had already aroused enough attention with their make out session, then stormed out of the cinema.

**THE GIRLS**

In the late evening the girls gathered at the lodge. Alison was curled up on the couch, not really paying any attention to what they were doing. Emily looked at her worriedly on a regular basis, but she didn't get anything back, not even a glance. The other three girls hadn't actually talked a lot either. It seemed as every single one of them was living in their own little world right now.

"Guys!" Emily exclaimed. "I thought this was supposed to be a meeting where we share our latest findings. So far, none of us have."

Emily had told them about Sullivan and that she had kept in touch with her secretly. They hadn't said much. She didn't know whether they just didn't consider it a big deal or whether something else was bothering them.

Spencer was the first to talk, as per usual. "I saw Melissa talking to CeCe today. And if that wasn't enough, I found women's clothing in Jason DiLaurentis' house. Unless he occasionally likes to show his feminine side, I think someone stayed at his house. That someone might've been CeCe."

"So, Jason is helping CeCe?" Emily asked.

"Well, that is just a theory so far, but it seems likely", Spencer explained.

Hanna listened to them silently. She wouldn't tell them of Caleb being back…yet. This was not about her or her and Caleb, this was about helping Ali. She looked at the girl, staring apathetically at the wall. It was a sheer shock to see her like this.

"Plus they had history, so it would make sense", Spencer added.

"I think I might know who shot Ezra", Aria said out of the blue.

All looks (except Ali's of course) turned to her. "Who?" They asked in unison.

Aria looked at them dead-serious, her voice was a little shaky as if she was desperately trying to contain her emotions. "Remember Wesley Fitzgerald?"

_**A**_

Somewhere in the dark, a certain anonymous person was busying themselves with some paper work. There was a piece of paper lying on a dark wooden table. Upon a closer look it could be identified as a list of names… Shana … Toby … Melissa. The rest was covered by the person that was bend over the table. After studying the list intensively, they proceeded with taking out a patient chart of the infamous Radley sanitarium. They took it in one hand and with the other they burned the paper with a lighter … a lighter with the initials N.R.


	7. Pretty Little Secrets

**The Devil within**

**A Pretty Little Liars Fanfiction**

**Set after 4x24 "A is for Alive"**

* * *

**Title: **The Devil within

**Author: **Myself

**Co-Author: **-

**Fandom: **ABC Family's Pretty Little Liars

**Pairings: **Spoby, Emison, Haleb, Ezria, Tranna

**Spoilers: ** SE04 &amp; SE05

**Posting: **Romance/Drama/Mystery

**Rating: **MA

**A/N: **All characters of Pretty Little Liars belong to Sara Shepard and ABC Family ©

**Synopsis: **Alison's return to Rosewood inflicts each of the liar's life in an individual way. Whilst Emily has to deal with her undying love, Aria will go down a dark path and she's taking a few people with her. Hanna has to wriggle herself out of a love triangle and Spencer must do anything in her power to keep her family together after she finds a couple of skeletons in their closets.

* * *

_**Q&amp;A**_

_**To: James**_

_**Question: What happened to Mona?**_

_**Answer: I haven't figured out a lot of story for her character…yet, but my plans are to include her in the later chapters as there is definitely more to tell about her and her involvement. She is currently on good terms with the liars and not (yet) up to anything possibly evil.**_

_**To: Emma**_

_**Question: Will there be a twin in this story?**_

_**Answer: I guess that would be a lot to reveal yet. All I can say is: maybe ;) **_

_**To: Annie**_

_**Question: Will there be a big fight or will A just get unmasked &amp; arrested?**_

_**Answer: Oh yes, there definitely will be a fight! I have epic plans for the finale! And we will find out who A is and they police will be after them, but A always got a backup plan ;)**_

* * *

**THE GIRLS**

"Wesley? As in Ezra's little, handsome brother?" Hanna asked, eyebrows raised in shock.

Aria nodded slowly. "I… well, I had something going on with him. It was some kind of a … rebound, I guess you could call it. We went out the other night, and I got a message from A with a picture of Ezra's medical files attached. He had been attacked in the hospital, someone actually tried to kill him … again!" She gesticulated excitedly with her hands and her voice was faster than usual. "And the message stated that Wesley knew", she ended her story.

The other girls' jaws dropped almost simultaneously. Alison had gone to bed before they discussed the matter, so she wasn't around to hear the news.

Spencer was the first so speak: "Okay, I am going to ignore the fact that you hooked up with Ezra's little brother for now, but do you really think he is capable of something like that?"

"Think, Spencer, what do we know about him? Yes, right, NOTHING. For all we know, he could be an astronaut whilst working for the CIA", Aria responded bluntly.

Hanna interposed: "But he's not A, right? I mean, that wouldn't make any sense, right? I can't see any connection here."

"Yes, that is because we hardly know anything about him. After all Ezra knew Ali and had kept it a secret for quite a long time, so why shouldn't his brother?" Aria explained.

"She does make a point there", Emily noted. "We cannot be a hundred per cent sure that A is one of the people we know have been involved with Alison or the DiLaurentis family."

"But it just seems so … far-fetched, I dunno." Hanna thought about a secret she had kept to herself for a while now – Lucas. She didn't even know why she hadn't talked about it yet. Maybe she was waiting to get more clues? Or was she subconsciously protecting the guy? Or maybe there were just too many things raining down on them right now that someone like Lucas didn't seem to be the biggest treat. However, she'd try again to get in touch with him that was for sure.

"Wha… guys, seriously. I feel overwhelmed by a flood of information and nothing makes sense anymore", said Emily, histrionically throwing her hands in the air.

"Okay, so … let's sum it up, who's on our suspect list?" Spencer asked. "I for my part am sure Melissa and CeCe have enough potentiAl to be on the top of that list. However, Jason has doubtlessly got some secrets, and if he is really helping CeCe – which I hope for him, he's not – then he surely gets a higher position."

"What about Shana and Jenna? Haven't seen them in a while, but they have been suspects for a while", Emily suggested.

"Well, I am not so sure anymore. Maybe they are involved but they don't seem to play an important role. Plus Jenna is afraid of CeCe, and she has obviously been on the radar of someone herself. Remember the lake incident?" Spencer responded. "And Shana tried to help Alison and you to a secret meeting, didn't she?"

"Yeah, but I still wouldn't rule them out, especially not Jenna. She has been around when Alison disappeared that night" Emily tried to invigorate her argument.

"I think she has been ruled out long before when Alison had made sure that she wasn't the one sending her those texts", Spencer discounted Emily's statement.

"What about the note Black Widow lost at Ms. D's funeral? The one with Noel's address? Have we ever excluded him, or what?" Hanna asked in confusion.

None of them seemed to have an answer for that. For some reason, Alison's trust for Noel had led to them hardly questioning his true agenda. It was true that he could play a two-sided game, but he was hardly a topic of conversation for the girls' anymore.

"Hm, true. Put Noel on the list then", Spencer said to Aria, who was writing down all the names on a tiny piece of paper. "What about Mona? Are we sure that she's not in it anymore?" she asked.

"Good question actually. Haven't seen her in a while, have you? I am not sure whether that is supposed to calm me down or make me nervous though", Emily answered.

"I had a silly idea once, that maybe Wren could be a possible A" Spencer muttered silently.

"Wren? Wasn't he like doctor super-nice?" Aria asked.

"Well, he did seem to have a thing for younger girls, so maybe Alison was in his 'area of interest'", Hanna responded, slightly blushing as the memory of her and Wren at Radley flashed in front of her mind's eye. She quickly shook it off.

"So, in conclusion … we know absolutely nothing, right?" Emily sighed wearily and let her body fall on Ezra's comfy couch.

"We should probably get to sleep. I don't know about you guys, but I am almost falling off my seat", Hanna said. She yawned audibly and rubbed her eyes. "Maybe A will surprise us with another message in the morning, leaving us with even more questions."

_Next day… _

**H**_**A**_**NNA**

Sunshine seeped inside the lodge, slowly making its way to Hanna's half-open eyes. She blinked a few times before her retina adjusted to the sudden brightness of the morning sun. Her back ached from the rough wooden floor and she moaned lightly whilst raising her exhausted body. Surprisingly she was the only one already awake, when it was usually the other way around.

Her head was spinning and she felt a sudden nausea overcoming her. Yesterday was … intense. And despite all of the other shocking revelations, the fact that Caleb was actually back was the only thing occupying her thoughts every wakening minute. Even in her dreams, he wouldn't go away.

Hanna went through what he said once more. The story he had told about Ravenswood sounded somewhat surreal and even though the other day she was more than willing to believe it, she was now beginning to question every detail about it.

It had all begun when Miranda had started to see a strange woman who resembled her mother so much, that she believed it was her mother's soul trying to get in touch with her. Strangely, she had been the only one able to see the woman, so Caleb and Miranda's other friends had reckoned that her mysterious family history had left some mental damages. One night she had swerved off the road, because she thought the ghostly woman had appeared right in front of her car. The vehicle had subsequently crashed into a tree nearby and left her unconscious at the scene of the accident. A passing truck had found her and brought her to hospital nearby, where they diagnosed a brain hemorrhage. She was unbelievably lucky to have gotten away without any permanent damage. However, after that night, Caleb had felt responsible for her well-being from now on. He would never leave her side until her visions had eventually stopped, and that was when he decided to return.

However, in Hanna's dream Caleb had been atop of Miranda, forcefully pinning her down on his bed and trail kissing from her neck to her chest and downwards.

She had woken up with sweat pearls on her forehead and her heart beating so fast that she thought it would rip out of her chest at any minute.

He wasn't lying, or was he? Hanna know that Caleb was one of the sincerest people she had ever met, but he had lied to her before and beyond that, everyone had their pretty little secrets. Maybe it was only a fugacious romance, a temptation he couldn't resist any longer, and now that it was over, he was crawling back to the one he really, genuinely loved?

But then again, a lot of weird and unexpected things had happened over the past years, so in comparison to those his story seemed actually pretty normal.

Hanna rubbed her eyes sleepily. She looked at her phone to find 3 new messages from Travis. She hadn't answered his last texts and now he was worried that something might've happened to her. She let out a deep sigh. She liked Travis, she really did, but nothing could ever compare to the way she felt for Caleb.

But how should she tell him that? "Sorry my true love came back, I don't need you anymore, but thanks for filling the hole he had left?"

"We need to talk. Meet me at 1pm at the Brew" she quickly typed into her cell. That first sentence never bore anything positive, so Hanna hoped at least Travis would be mentally prepared for something bad to happen.

She laid back on the ground, arms folded behind her head and stared absentmindedly at the ceiling. She imagined how it would feel like to look in those hazel eyes again, feel those strong hands all over her body again and those, irresistible, soft lips on hers… And the imagination alone felt so good, Hanna didn't dare to think about something else.

_**A**_**LISON**

Alison's state had slightly improved. She was still distanced and not able to fully engage in a conversation, but at least her facial muscles were able to contract into a smile sometimes.

Today would be her first therapy session with Dr. Sullivan and she was both anxious to talk about her feelings and relieved that they would be somewhere safe.

She was sitting on Ezra's couch. The other girls had left the apartment a couple of minutes ago to give her some moments of privacy before she would talk to the psychologist. She nervously played with a strand of hair, always keeping her eyes attached to the door.

Around 11am, the doctor eventually knocked and Alison quickly rose from her seat, heading towards the wooden door. Her hand was shaking noticeably when she turned the key.

"Oh, hello. You must be Alison, right?" A friendly voice greeted her. The woman was two heads taller than her, slender and with a very long, pale face and thin hair. She smiled warmly.

"Come in", Alison stepped aside to grant her entrance.

Dr. Sullivan curiously scanned her surroundings, whilst putting her coat on a tiny table near the door. "So, this is your temporary residence?" She asked.

_More like hiding place_, Alison thought, but nodded in agreement. "Do you want something to drink?" She asked politely.

"No, thanks I am good", her visitor responded.

Alison tensed. She knew, this was what therapy would feel like, but the thought of sharing her secrets with a complete stranger were suddenly frightening her. She swallowed hard and sat down in front of the psychologist. She tried to force a smile, but failed miserably.

"Do you think it'll feel uncomfortable talking to me?" Alison raised an eyebrow. How in hell could she see know that?

"A little", she answered. "But that's normal, isn't it?" She bit down on her lower lip.

"Yes, of course. A lot of people don't say much during their first therapy session. I tell them that I have signed an agreement to never share anything with a third party, but that doesn't seem to help them. It's not that they fear that I would tell anyone, they fear that I will judge them for what they feel and think. They are afraid that I will label them with some kind of mental disease and only see them as a sick and confused person. But I don't, you should know that. I am not a doctor in this sense, I am more of a … counselor, someone to turn to if you're having out-of-the-ordinary-troubles or even everyday problems that you feel are getting too much for you to take. Just keep that in mind", she explained. It was stunning how she had managed to keep a smile on her face throughout the whole speech.

Alison wrapped her arms around a cup of warm coffee, she had actually prepared for the therapist. They warmth seeping through the porcelain burned on her hands, but she didn't put the mug away. She needed something that would keep her hands busy or else she would either compulsively run her fingers through her hair or drum them on the coffee table and such behavior would (she thought) automatically lead to false assumptions when seen by a psychologist.

"What is your biggest fear right now?" Sullivan asked, looking at her with a piercing look.

Alison blinked a few times and looked away. "That someone is going to finish what they started in September 2009", she responded deadpan.

Sullivan nodded slowly and took some notes in a ragged leather-bound book. "And do you have any ideas who this person could be?"

Alison bit down hard on her lip this time, so hard, that she could almost feel the iron-like taste of blood in her mouth. She was forcing her tears down her throat, but the resulting pain gave her even more reason to cry. After a few seconds of trying to maintain her composure, she started to talk:

"I thought I knew … countless times. For some time I didn't trust anyone, not even my friends. They were on my suspect list too, until I was absolutely sure they were not involved. I even suspected my brother, but now that he is …" A single tear escaped her eye. "…gone, I don't anymore."

Sullivan shifted uncomfortably in her seat. Being confronted with other people's losses, especially under such extreme circumstances, was indeed a challenge. "Do you know for sure, that he is gone? Maybe this … person just wants you to believe that he is?"

Alison had a perplex look on her face as if this was absolutely out of question. "But… they send me a picture. I … I can show it to you", Alison offered desperately.

"Alison … a picture can be anything if you view it from a different perspective. From what your friend has told me, I get that your brother is in a critical medical condition, but seeing him like this, in your current state, it is only natural that you'll make impetuous assumptions."

The tears were unpreventable now and made their way down Alison's cheeks, staining her olive green cardigan.

"But they killed my mother! They didn't fake her burial, did they?" Alison responded in between sniffs. "They want me to show myself or else they will never stop torturing and killing the ones I love. What kind of creature would do something like that? I … just … I can't believe someone would hate me _that_ much." Despite her frantic attempts to stay calm, every emotion she had kept bottled up inside of her, surfaced at this moment. She felt her whole body shaking while she talked. Was this another panic attack?

Dr. Sullivan reached out to gently stroke her shoulders, repeatedly, until Alison had found back to her normal breathing rhythm.

"It might not have to do so much with hatred", she said. "Some people are … different. They lack certain emphatic and emotional skills. In professional terminology, we would refer to them as "sociopaths". Those are the people who could kill without the bat of an eyelid and without ever feeling the slightest hint of remorse for their deeds. Their agenda might arise from a personal conflict, but it's not sheer hatred. It's a psychological deficiency both doctors and psychotherapists haven't yet completely figured out", she explained.

Alison's heart skipped a beat. On some occasions she had thought she could redeem what she had possibly done to the person that hated her in ways no one ever had hated her before, but if this someone was an emotionless maniac, every effort to make amends would be absolutely worthless. She felt a shiver creep up her spine. All of the sudden the warm and cozy lodge felt cold and icy and goose bumps appeared on her arms.

"How can we be sure that they are a … "

"Sociopath? Well, their behavioral patterns all point towards that diagnosis. Sociopaths are known to be extremely intelligent and manipulative. Which is probably the compensation for their lack of emotions and empathy. The thing with sociopaths is, that they _know_ feelings, even though they can't have them themselves. Despite their lack of empathy, they have an incredibly good knowledge of human nature. They know how to win their victim's trust and how to persuade them into doing something they normally wouldn't do. They can be so charismatic and friendly that without knowing more about their background it is incredibly hard, even impossible, to identify them as mentally ill. Most of them don't kill, only a few of them do. And some of them are not pure sociopaths, but show some kind of sociopathic behavior. The human mind is complex and can be molded in mysterious ways that we don't yet understand. It's a variously balanced mixture of genes and our psychosocial and socioeconomic environment.

Alison's eyes had widened. Sure this explanation would take a whole lot of guilty off her mind, but it also made her feel even more endangered.

"So, if this person could kill without blinking, how can I be sure, they are not going to slaughter all of the people I love?" she asked, her heart beating out of her chest. There was a lump the size of a toad in her throat.

"This person in particular seems to have a certain plan. Sometimes the torture is more arousing to them than the actual killing and if they can watch their victim suffer, they feel satisfied. They can't get this kind of satisfaction elsewhere. They are bound to rely on those methods to get a kind of satisfactory thrill."

Alison's heart pumped even faster. Someone actually getting aroused by her anxiety and despair? How fucked up was that?

"And .. ho…how can we, I mean what can we do, what can _I_ do?" she asked with a shaky voice.

"Stick together, for now. And I'd actually advise you on getting professional protection. If you don't want to go to a local authority, at least install a good alarm system in this lodge. And if you get any hint on this person's identity, you should go straight to the police."

Alison nodded, even though she wasn't exactly sure what would happen if they would really know more about A's identity. "And concerning the alarm system, I think, we are pretty much equipped with the best money could buy", Alison explained, referring to Ezra's "spy-chamber." For the first time in a while, she managed to put on an almost genuine smile. Maybe this therapy thingy was indeed a good idea. Still, the fear of A was occupying her mind practically 24/7, even more so now.

"Is there anything else you want to talk about? Our hour is almost over, but I can give you some extra time,… on the house", Sullivan suggested.

Alison thought for a minute. What besides A should be troubling her? She went through the latest events like an archivist would go through written material. She rested at one moment in particular. Or rather, one person in particular.

**EMILY**

Cool water enveloped her half-naked body and adrenaline poured into her veins, as she started dashing forward. Her vision was blurred through her swim goggles but she could perceive the most important details of her surroundings. Muffled voices from above reached her ears, but she blocked them out, frantically pushing aside the water to move forward.

It felt good to be back in her old habitat. Swimming was a way to escape from basically everything. When Emily was inside the large school-owned pool, nothing else mattered, but her determination to succeed.

When she emerged from the water, gasping for air, she could see a group of people had gathered at the end of the pool, chatting with each other. She hesitated for a moment, before she continued with her training, noticing that one of the people was no one other, than Paige McCullers.

Before the girl could turn to see her, Emily plunged underwater again. Her heart had slightly increased its speed at the sight of Paige, but Emily chose to ignore that. After all, their last conversation hadn't ended on good terms and since then both had tried to stay out of each other's way. However, it was kind of hard to avoid each other when they were in the same school and in the same swim team and Emily didn't want to completely let go off her responsibilities and hobbies, just because of a messy break up. She had indeed abstained from swimming for a while just because of that, but at some point she just found it ridiculous. _Yeah, like disappearing underwater was any less ridiculous_, she thought. Sooner or later, she'd have to confront her anyway.

After a full hour of intense practice, Emily heaved her wet body out of the water. She put off her goggles and swim cap and let her long, thick mane fall onto her broad, athletic shoulders.

"Hey there", a sudden voice startled her. Paige had emerged out of nowhere, now awkwardly standing in front of her ex-lover, her own hair tied into a strict knot and her black-brown eyes shyly avoiding Emily's.

"Oh, hey." Emily scratched the back of her neck. "How have you been?" She tried to sound casual, but it couldn't take the weirdness out of this situation.

"Good actually. I was … quite busy, with school and stuff … and swimming, of course." She pursed her lips and nodded slowly. "What about you?"

Emily stared into the distance. "Same."

A minute of silence passed between them, when Paige raised her voice again.

"Look … It does not have to be like … _this_. I still really like you and I guess I don't want to lose the connection I've had for you, even if that means that I have to relinquish certain parts of this relationship. What I am trying to say is that … I'd love for us to be friends."

Emily took in a deep breath, cautiously considering her possible responses.

Eventually she nodded. "Yes… yes, I want that too", she said. It was the least she could offer to the other girl. She remembered when Alison had broken her heart a few years back. Still Emily would've never wanted to let go off her friendship with her just because of that, so she got where Paige was coming from. A strong connection shouldn't be thrown away that easily.

A tall, lean female walked over to the two. Her hair was as wavy and dense as Emily's and she had impressively full lips and mesmerizingly beautiful eyes. She was an exotic mixture of Caucasian and something else Emily couldn't quite decipher. Maybe Esquimaux? "Hey, you guys" she greeted friendlily.

"Oh, this is Sydney by the way, Sydney Driscoll", Paige introduced her. "Sydney, this is Emily, my ex-gir… a friend of mine." The girl stuck her hand towards Emily. "Sydney is an exchange student from Alaska. We met a while ago in a swim camp. You should see her Butterfly stroke. Am-azing!"

"Oh, don't flatter me", Sydney said. _Did Emily just detect a French accent in there?_

"But you are not 100% Alaskan, or?" She asked curiously.

She smiled. "No, you're right. My mother's actually from Québec. I speak both English and French fluently."

_Wow_. Emily couldn't but feel a slight hint of admiration for the girl.

"What about you?" She asked. Her almond shaped eyes wandered over Emily's athletic figure up to her oval face and her dark brown hair that complimented her olive complexion just perfectly.

"Half-Canadian, half-Filipino", Emily answered. The corners of her mouth curled up sheepishly and she felt her cheeks heat up a little.

Sydney noticed her behavior with a self-assured grin. Then she looked at Paige and back at Emily again. "You guys wanna get something to eat?" She asked. Her voice was soft and alluring.

"I actually can't. Got a history test tomorrow, so Napoleon and his revolution are waiting for me at home", Paige excused herself.

"What about you?" Sydney turned to Emily. Her eyes were glistening in the bright sunlight that oozed through the gigantic window panes.

"Er…" Emily thought a second if there was someone on her agenda at the moment, and eventually decided that she could grant herself a few hours of free time. Beyond that Sydney's persona seemed so intriguing, that Emily simply needed to know more about the girl.

"Yeah, sure, why not."

She turned to head towards the door, accompanied by the Alaskan girl, but got halted when she softly bumped into another person. She looked up to meet Shana's face.

"So…sorry", she said apologetically and proceeded to walk, glancing over her shoulder on more time to see the other girl walking towards Paige. They were obviously discussing something. And judging from their secretive behavior, it was something no one should know about.

**H**_**A**_**NNA**

Trevor was standing in a shadowy corner of the street nearby the Brew, hands shyly stuffed into his pocket, eyes absentmindedly darted towards the floor.

"Hey", Hanna approached him with a not so brave look either. A lump was forming in her throat and she was trying her best to swallow it. "You want some coffee before we talk?" She asked silently.

He nodded and without any form of affectionate salutation, they entered the coffee shop.

Equipped with a large Cappuccino, Hanna finally jumped in at the deep end. Her mouth felt cottony and she had to practically force every word out of it.

"So, look… something happened", she began, not sure where to go from here. "I really don't know how to tell you this." She laughed nervously.

Travis licked his lips. "Well, we both know where it is going, so…" he responded with a shrug.

Hanna nodded slowly and muttered an almost inaudible "Yes."

"It's … Caleb came back", she finally managed to say. It felt as if a monstrously big weight had been moved off her chest and she could finally breathe properly again.

Travis grimaced. He opened up his mouth to say something, but didn't. He had known from the beginning, that he was nothing more than a 'second choice', a 'temporary replacement' until the better one walks by again, but hearing it out loud did feel kind of different. It wasn't just his ego that was hurt, he actually liked Hanna, a lot. Sure, they hadn't known each other for that long and he had always kept in mind that this was definitely not going to last and when she called him up to meet here, he_ knew_ what was going on. Nevertheless, he had hoped that maybe he was wrong.

"I know I am a terrible person, but you should know that I really, really liked you. If we would have met on another occasion, I am sure things would've turned out differently. Another place, another time,…" She tried to smile, but clearly this wouldn't cheer him up.

"I understand, okay? I knew Caleb and you had … something. A bound so unbreakably strong, that it wouldn't just go away that easily. It just doesn't feel good to finally hear that", he responded, clasping his hands together.

Hanna took a deep breath. "I know this sounds stupid every time someone says it after a break up, but I really want us to be friends."

Travis hesitated. He scratched his neck. "I dunno. I mean yeah, why not, but like right now? Guess that would definitely be a little to awkward wouldn't it be?"

"Well, you know what I mean … but if you need anything at anytime, you know where to find me, right? Oh, and don't mind on coffee. It's my treat."

"It's not even good coffee", Travis managed a reasonably genuine smile. "But fine, if you want to."

Hanna grinned. They stood up and hugged briefly and then he took off, one more time looking back at the blonde that he had so rapidly taken to his heart.

Hanna forced the suppressed air through her lips and sat back down again, once Travis was gone. She rummaged through her tiny Chanel purse to look for her phone and as soon as she got it out, she quickly typed in a text to Caleb that sounded a lot like the one she had sent to Travis, except that this time, it _did_ bear a positive message.

**EMILY**

They strolled alongside the pretty fences of the Rosewood houses that lined the street, giggling and chatting and for the first time, Emily felt at ease again. She and Sydney had discussed every possible topic from swimming over their history teacher's weird beard to their critical view on today's politics. And all of that only within a couple of hours. Emily felt so refreshed talking to Sydney, it made her almost sad that their meeting had to end.

"I had a blast today", Sydney said, when they reached the Fields' mansion. "We should definitely do this again sometime." She cocked her head to the side a little, eyeing the other girl with a wide grin.

Emily nodded excitedly. "Yes, absolutely. See you tomorrow at school, then?" Suddenly she froze in place, not sure on how to properly say goodbye to the girl. The memory of her first encounter with Maya flashed in front of her mind's eye. However, Sydney had already stuck her hand towards her.

When they shook hands, the Alaskan girl leaned closer to give Emily a gentle peak on the cheek. However her lips rested there a lot longer than they should have. They felt soft and silky and Emily couldn't but blush slightly at the unexpected sign of affection. Sydney leaned back again and grinned widely when she noticed that Emily's cheek had turned to a faint tone of red.

"Bye, Filipino", she said. They decided on nicknaming each other "Filipino" and "Frenchy" which both of them found incredibly funny for some reason.

Emily stuffed her hands into her pockets as she headed to her front porch. It would be quite hard to wipe the smile off her face today.

**H**_**A**_**NNA**

She saw him standing nearby a taxi stand, eyes focused on some spot in the distance. The wind played with some strands of his hair and he looked so deep in thought, Hanna was sure he wouldn't even notice her standing next to him.

"Hey you." She softly nudged him. "What are you philosophizing about in your head?" She asked jokingly.

Caleb smiled at the sight of her. "Well, you know, everything and anything." He pulled her in a brief embrace, than looked at her intensively. "Did you …"

"Yes", she responded softly.

He breathed in sharply, then put his rough hands on her cheeks. He gazed into an endless ocean of blue and fell in love with her all over again. "I hope you didn't feel pressured by me. I would've waited, if that was what you wanted", he told her.

Hanna clutched his wrists and gently rubbed his skin. "I couldn't wait any longer", she almost whispered.

They looked at each other for a few seconds as if trying to suppress their craving for the other person, but in the end their temptation was winning against their will.

They vanished into a small back alley, where they were hidden from any curious eyes. Evening was approaching and the daylight had already slightly dimmed. People were chatting in front of a kiosk, cars were rushing down the main street and the wind was swirling through a pile of leaves in the corner, but it sounded as if all of those noises were somewhere far away, muffled and almost inaudible.

Caleb vigorously pushed her against the cold stone wall and captured her lips. Hanna put her hands in his hair, kissing back roughly. Their tongues fought for dominance in each other's mouth cavity. His strong hands wandered all over her body and he gratefully took in the bloomy scent of her perfume. Hanna moaned silently into his mouth in between their hungry kiss. She buried her nails in his naked skin beneath his shirt, but he didn't wince. They pulled away from each other briefly to draw breath. Their foreheads touched and both of them smiled. Between heavy pants, Hanna said: "You need to do me a favor."

Caleb frowned, still smiling. "What do you want?" He stroked her cheek softly.

"You need to help me localize someone who's trying to hide", she told him.

"Hanna, I might be a good hacker, but I am not Houdini", Caleb answered. "How do you suppose I am going to do that? Do you have at least any leads, like a cell phone number that I can try to track down?"

"Yes, yes, I do. Here." She gave him her cellphone and pointed to Lucas' number.

"Gottesman is back?" Caleb asked in confusion. "Why would he be hiding?"

"I dunno. But he lied to me about his reasons for being here. And I saw him talk to a black hooded person, which I doubt was anyone else but A."

"So, you think he's helping A again? But the A he used to help was Mona, right? Is she back to her old game again?"

"We have absolutely no idea. But we don't think so. Oh and there is one more thing, you should know…"

**SH**_**A**_**NA**

Shana Fringe was working late at the Spooktacular store. As Halloween was slowly but surely approaching, she had more customers than the usual 5 to 10 maximum. At 7pm she was about to close, when she noticed someone staring inside through the shopping window.

"Can I help you?" she asked and a gasp escaped her mouth when she saw who it was.

"What are _you_ doing here? I thought I was clear when I said that I want you to stop visiting me here", she said angrily.

The person didn't respond and simply passed the girl and went into the shop. They tried to keep their face covered. A black hood was pulled over their head and they were wearing black, leather gloves. They walked towards an eerie looking costume of a clown and eyed it interestedly.

"We are closed", Shana said bluntly. "If you want to buy something, you need to come back tomorrow."

Still no response.

"What do you really want?" Shana asked. Her body tensed up.

"You owe me", a familiar female voice said.

"Owe you for what?" Shana asked. Her heart pumped faster.

Suddenly the person stepped into the sliver of light that entered the shop through the window and blond locks fell out of the hood. Icy blue eyes fixated the Afro-American girl on the opposite side of the shop counter.

"For the fact that I didn't drown your dear little girlfriend in the lake", she said coldly.

Shana swallowed hard. "What do you want?"


	8. Running

**The Devil within**

**A Pretty Little Liars Fanfiction**

**Set after 4x24 "A is for Alive"**

* * *

**Title: **The Devil within

**Author: **Myself

**Co-Author: **-

**Fandom: **ABC Family's Pretty Little Liars

**Pairings: **Spoby, Emison, Haleb, Ezria, Tranna

**Spoilers: ** SE04 &amp; SE05

**Posting: **Romance/Drama/Mystery

**Rating: **MA

**A/N: **All characters of Pretty Little Liars belong to Sara Shepard and ABC Family ©

**Synopsis: **Alison's return to Rosewood inflicts each of the liar's life in an individual way. Whilst Emily has to deal with her undying love, Aria will go down a dark path and she's taking a few people with her. Hanna has to wriggle herself out of a love triangle and Spencer must do anything in her power to keep her family together after she finds a couple of skeletons in their closets.

* * *

**SPENCER**

"So, why are we driving to Ezra's lodge again?" Toby asked, shooting a quick glance at his girlfriend. "This place looks like death and abandonment." The car radio played a distorted version of "Don't Trust Me" from 3OH!3 and a frosty breeze slipped through the half-opened window. Spencer shifted on the leathery seat next to him. "I told you, it's a surprise", she responded.

He grimaced in frustration and put his focus back on the lane in front of him.

Shortly after their brief conversation, they arrived at Ezra's lodge. Fog enveloped them in thick, white clouds and the wind whispered icily over their faces. Spencer shivered and hugged herself to keep warm. She looked uneasily to the floor. How was she going to tell Toby that Alison was still alive? And that she was practically dragging them with her into a dark descent of dangers? She clutched the door knob tighter than she needed to and sucked in a deep breath.

Toby was close behind her, curiously peeking into the lodge. Spencer couldn't see Ali anywhere, so she simply walked through the living room area and took a seat on the gigantic coach. Toby cautiously took in every detail of his surroundings. "So, this is supposed to be Fitz's secret chamber?" He asked, not really convinced that a peaceful lodge like this was the residence of a professional stalker.

"Uhm..his equipment is in the cellar." Spencer nodded towards the floor where dark lines outlined the hatch to Ezra's high professional spying room.

Toby nodded slowly. "So, will you finally tell me why you brought me here?" As if on cue, a creek resounded from the bathroom. Someone was making their way towards them, with slow and uneasy steps. When they person eventually stepped into everyone's sight, Toby's jaw dropped to the floor.

He hadn't seen her in like … forever. And on top of that, he was convinced that she was well … dead. He looked at her with mixed feelings. He opened his mouth to say something but the words just wouldn't come out.

"I know it is quite a lot to take in", Alison said with a trying-to-sound-empathetic-kind of voice. "It was actually my idea to let you know", she added. Her hands were noticeably shaking and she put them in the pockets of her carmine flannel hoodie. She looked…different. She had only applied a slight touch of makeup, her hair was tied up in a messy bun and dark circles framed her cerulean eyes which had lost all of their forcefulness. This wasn't the girl, Toby once feared. He couldn't, but feel the slightest hint of pity for her.

"I am so glad Spencer was able to see how special you are", she said. Her lips were trembling and Toby noticed her glazed eyes. _Was this for real?_

"I am too", he responded silently. He forced his look off the blonde. Memories he had suppressed so vigorously surfaced and played in front of his mind's eye in an infinite loop. She was one of the main reasons he had to go through such a hard time, she was the one who blackmailed him into confessing to having blind his own stepsister, but after all, it had brought him away from Jenna, so he could forgive her, right? He could put this behind him. He was stronger than the persons who would hold a grudge against someone forever. He breathed in deeply. It felt like a minute had passed before the air escaped his lips again.

Alison looked like a ready-to-be-shot deer. Her eyes were now directed to the floor and she played with a loose thread of her hoodie.

Toby hesitantly stopped towards her and what he did then did not only surprise him or Alison, but also Spencer raised her eyebrows in astonishment.

It didn't feel weird or anything near that. Toby pulled Alison's fragile body to his muscular chest and hugged her tightly. The embrace only lasted for a few seconds, but Alison felt such an immense rush of emotions at this moment. _So, that was what forgiveness felt like_, she thought. Toby took a few steps back and mustered up a smile.

Spencer sighed in relief. Before they had driven to the lodge, she had been envisioning every possible scenario and she literally went through everything - from Toby running away to Toby hitting Alison with his bare fists, but _this _was certainly unexpected. She felt somewhat ashamed to believe that Toby was incapable of forgiving someone. After all, he had forgiven all of them – it hadn't just been Alison giving him a hard time. Sure, she was in charge but they had always possessed the right to their own decisions. However, the consequences would've been too much at that time.

She looked absentmindedly out of the fogged window. Toby had walked up to her, an unsure look on his face. Alison still stood on the other end of the room, inwardly bursting with emotions, which she tried hard not to show.

"So, listen", Alison said, looking into the boy's direction. "We will sort of need your help."

**H**_**A**_**NNA**

Caleb stood there, motionless, staring at Hanna in pure astonishment. "She is … alive?"

Hanna nodded slowly. "Sorry, I didn't want to drop the bomb right now, but… I kind of thought you should know", she said so silently Caleb almost didn't hear her.

"I… I have no idea what to say. How long did you know?" He asked. They had parted significantly and Hanna felt almost threatened by the huge distance between them. Maybe it had been a bad idea to tell about Ali? She took a deep breath. "Couple of months, but we couldn't tell anyone. It's complicated", Hanna tried to explain herself.

Caleb nodded slowly, but she noticed his skeptical facial expression. "It always is complicated with you isn't it?" He responded a little coldly.

Hanna felt a stinging pain in her chest. He obviously didn't take the news all too well. She was already expecting him to say and do all kinds of things, but to her surprise Caleb stepped forward and pulled her into a gentle hug. "I will help you with anything, you hear me?", he mumbled into the fabric of her coat. Hanna melted in his embrace. She clung to him so tightly as if he would suddenly change his mind and walk away from her. This time for good.

An almost inaudible sob escaped her lips and Caleb calmingly patted her back. "I am so glad you're back", she whispered and he pulled her even closer.

**EMILY**

Emily had just been given the low down on how Spencer had told Toby about Alison and that he had

Emily had just been given the low down on how Spencer had told Toby about Alison and that he had reacted much differently than all of them had expected. She was more than glad though. Despite the fact that they hardly saw each other anymore, Toby would always remain an important part of her life, plus he could definitely help them. He had insider information about A and their team and it wouldn't hurt to have more people on their side to fight against the enemy.

After Alison had informed Toby about the most important events so far, he and Spencer had taken off to 'run some errands' which Emily thought was a very lame excuse for a make out session at Toby's house.

Shortly after their departure, she and Alison had decided to take advantage of the surprisingly warm weather and had taken a seat on two grand decorative stones outside the lodge, sunbathing like in the good old times with the slight difference that here they were so secluded from the rest of the world. No one would ever dare to disturb this peaceful moment right now. Except maybe Emily's newly found friend, Sydney Driscoll, who wouldn't stop texting her. Not that she would mind or anything.

"Why are you like 24/7 on your phone?" Alison asked, trying to catch a glimpse of Emily's cellphone display. She was doing a lot better due to her conversations with Dr. Sullivan and her reconciliation with Toby, but even the slightest remark of anything having to do with her family could throw her off again, so Emily knew better than to ever go there again.

The Canadian girl blushed slightly and put the phone aside as if she didn't want Alison to read her texts. "Oh, it's just a friend."

"Doesn't look like a friend to me", Alison said with a knowing grin on her face. "You're blushing, aren't you?" She nudged the other girl teasingly.

"Noooo", Emily laughed nervously. _Was she blushing? _

So far she hadn't interpreted a lot into her friendship with Sydney. Sure, the girl was amazingly beautiful and had some kind of a character, but she had just gotten out of a relationship and somehow realized that there was still a little left of what used to be a major crush on Alison. Okay maybe a little more than just a little, in all honesty.

However, yesterday, all those thoughts had subsided, if only for a couple of hours.. She had spent a lovely afternoon with Sydney, chatting and laughing about absolutely everything. It had felt so casual unconstrained and nothing, literally nothing, had managed to destroy her mood. Even the perpetual worries that A would pop up at any given moment, was so far away, it was only a distant thought. At the end of their "date" Sydney had even kissed Emily goodbye, which the girl found somewhat flattering. But could this be the beginning of something? She highly doubted it. They had spent their day as nothing more but friends, or rather acquaintances who just happened to really hit it off. She had to admit though that she caught herself swoon over Sydney's somewhat seductive French accent more than just a couple of times. But could it ever be compared to the sound of Alison's slightly gravelly and oddly soothing voice? Could she ever replace the blonde's perfect heart-shaped lips with Sydney's lush and sanguine ones? Was the darkness of her eyes as beautiful as the piercing blue of Alison's?

"We met at swim practice. She's a friend of Paige", Emily explained, playing with a strand of her hair.

"And do you like her?" Alison pried. There was something in her voice Emily couldn't quite determine. It sounded almost as if Alison was … jealous?

She hesitated for a moment, her eyes darting back and forth. She couldn't help but feel guilty for whenever a devious thought would cross her mind. Nevertheless she played with the idea of testing Alison's reactions. What would the blonde think or do when she did indeed like Sydney _that _way? Would she try to talk it out of her? Would she feel happy for her? Emily bit her lower lip in thought. Could she be as cruel as to play with her friend's feelings?

"I kind of do actually", she responded sheepishly. She glanced at the cerulean eyed blonde, who looked at some spot far in the distance. Emily couldn't read her facial expression. Her mouth was slightly ajar as if she was about to add something to the conversation, but she kept silent.

"I miss this", she said after a minute of silence had passed, earning a confused look from her friend.

"You miss what?" Emily asked, furling her eyebrows.

"The rush you get when you fall for someone. The butterflies rummaging in your stomach, the excitement and happiness by the mere sight of someone. Ain't got no time for that when you're trying to hide from your crazy stalker." She dreamily gazed into the sky as if she'd find something there by only looking long enough. The sunlight enlightened her perfectly clear skin and her beautiful blue eyes glistened eagerly. Emily forced her own eyes off her, realizing that she was staring at the blonde way too long.

"There's always that special someone, who you could fall for over and over again, you know? The only person you feel completely safe and secure around. I had sometimes thought that I had found this person, but as it turns out, nothing is ever quite as it seems" she said cryptically and looked at Emily for 5 very long seconds until her eyes wandered to the sky again.

"So, you think there's still someone out there who will someday be that person for you?" Emily asked. She realized her heart was slightly beating faster than before.

Alison shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe, I will, maybe I won't. Maybe, this person has always been around me, but I had never realized it." She gracefully rose from her seat, her long blonde hair waving gently in the light autumn breeze. Then she bowed down and softly, almost imperceptibly, pecked Emily on the cheek, remaining on eye level with the other girl for a brief moment. Emily felt a shiver sneaking down her spine. It was such a rare moment, she wanted to turn back in time and replay it over and over again. She felt the other girl's breath tickling her skin and inhaled the bloomy scent of what she knew was Alison's favorite perfume. Their lips were almost as near as they were when they almost kissed a couple of days ago. Emily couldn't see Alison's eyes as they were overshadowed by a couple of oak trees nearby. The sunlight only illuminated half of her face. Her mouth felt dry and she felt a little dizzy. Alison's presence was … intoxicating. In reality, they had only stayed like this for about the quarter of a minute, but to Emily it felt like at least 10 minutes. She took in every detail of Alison from her cute, upturned nose to her lustrous lips. And then she heard her phone chime in her pocket. New text message.

"_You up for some coffee, Filipino? xo Sydney"_

_**A**_**RIA**

"_Can we talk? Please? Wes"_

Aria starred at her cellphone for what seemed like an eternity. Tears dotted the corners of her eyes and her lips quivered. An immense rush of emotions jolted through her body. On one hand, she felt betrayed and hurt, but on the other hand she was blind with rage. How could he do something so utterly gruesome? To his very own brother? She sensed a feeling of disgust when she remembered his mouth on hers, sucking fiercely on her lower lip. She had let her guards down and he was right there to take advantage of her fragile self. Obviously dishonesty and deceitfulness ran in the Fitzgerald family.

She carelessly tossed the phone in a corner of her room. It landed ungently on the rough laminate floor and made a loud cracking noise as if it had broken in halves. However, Aria didn't mind. She threw her face in her black and white plaid pillow and let out a sob. She didn't want to cry over Wesley, but the tears came naturally. Beyond that it wasn't only Wesley, it was everything from Alison being back to Ezra being attacked in his goddamn hospital bed. If Wesley was A – even though that didn't made a great deal of sense – she wouldn't know what she'd do. Tears wetted her face and pillows and she tried to swallow the gigantic lump in her throat. However, it just wouldn't go away. How could she have been so foolish and trust him? What kind of person would kiss your almost-dead brother's ex-girlfriend anyway? She mentally scolded herself for being so naïve. She would say she was in a weak state right now and amenable to any influence, but that just wouldn't justify her actions. She bit down on her lip so hard, that she could feel a drip of blood trickling down her chin.

This couldn't be the way how she would deal with the situation. Like lying in bed all day, sobbing over the fact that she had been fooled again was going to help her get on with her life. No, she wasn't going to be that kind of girl. She'd been in this position way too often. Now it was about time to show what Aria Montgomery was capable of.

**TOBY**

Toby sat on his sofa and read the newspaper, casually sipping on a cup of coffee that had a crazy looking band logo printed on it. He slurped loudly and changed the page. His hair was messier than usual and he had changed from his usual attire to comfy sweatpants and a white V-neck with a few stains of what seemed to have been some kind of reddish looking sauce once.

_Alison DiLaurentis returning from the death,_ he still couldn't fully rationalize it. Even though he always had felt like the devious blonde was still hunting him, or rather her ghost, he had never considered the possibility of her being alive for sure. After all, her body – or what now seems to be the body of someone else – had been found in the DiLaurentis' backyard and it was all over the news that someone had murdered one of Rosewood's most popular princesses. And then, they had pinned the murder on him. The fact that he had been convicted for killing a still vitally alive person had kind of enraged him when he saw Alison emerging from the shadows at Ezra's lodge. But what belonged in the past, should stay there. Forever.

He slowly rose from his comfortable seat and put his empty cup in the dishwasher. He laid the newspaper on a small wooden coffee table when he noticed the familiar sound of his doorbell.

He whirled around quickly and moved to the entrance. He peeked out of the peephole. A distorted version of a whiskery mailman appeared and Toby almost shrieked. For some reason, he felt nervous.

He turned the knob and opened the door to greet the man. He had a roundish frame and way too revealing clothes. "I've got a delivery for uh…" He pulled out a crumbled piece of paper. "Toby Cavanaugh, is that you?"

Toby nodded vigorously. He almost expected the parcel to have a gigantic red "A" printed on it, but it was just a simple and plain cardboard box with nothing suspicious on it.

"I need you to sign this", the well-nourished postman said, sticking a tablet towards Toby.

"Uh okay." He took the pen that clung to the device and scribbled a somewhat contorted version of his signature on it. "Here." He gave it back and took the parcel, his heart pounding a little faster than it should.

He closed the door and wandered over to the kitchen counter. He took a box knife from one of the drawers and opened the package carefully. When he first peeked inside, he already thought it was just a box full of nothing, but then he noticed a tiny piece of black which he later identified as a videotape.

He looked at it in utter confusion. He was already expecting a saw-like videotape of A, instructing him on the rules of how to survive this horrible game and with an unsure feeling on the back of his mind, he put it into his DVD player.

After a few seconds of blurred pictures that were probably due to the rough handling of the camera, the lens focused on an old building. He could hear whispering voices and he was sure they were male.

It took him a minute to identify the building as the Radley sanitarium. An eerie feeling crept up his body. He could feel his hair stand on end.

The camera zoomed in on one of the many windows. A shadowy figure paced up and forth behind the curtains but he couldn't get a close-up of their face. In the back of his mind, alarm bells went off and warned him that he was going to witness something he would rather not want to see.

However, he kept his eyes glued to the screen expectantly.

The figure stopped, remaining still for a second until he or she was forced against the window pane. Glass shattered and the one in charge of the camera let out a startled cry. The camera caught on a brief glimpse on a female figure dashing downwards. Toby shut his eyes so hard that it almost hurt.

Instantaneously, he knew. But truth was, he didn't want to.

"Woah, did you see that? Who the fuck was that?" A quite familiar voice said behind the camera. But for some reason Toby couldn't identify it properly since the sound quality of the video wasn't that high. Another close-up showed a second shadowy figure – a lot smaller than the first one – standing at the window. Their face was so blurred, Toby couldn't make out anything, but he could swear he had noticed blond locks.

"_Keep away from that blonde girl"_ The memory of Dr. Palmer automatically flashed through Toby's mind. His eyes had dilated to an abnormal size and he felt his heart making somersaults in his rib cage. Suddenly, the room turned ice-cold. He breathed in sharply and exhaled loudly, again and again, as if he was going to hyperventilate. He clutched the arms of his leather TV chair. It felt like his heart was beating out of his chest.

This couldn't be true, it just couldn't. While he was still trying to process this, the guy with the camera kept on filming, trying to catch a glimpse of the anonymous culprit, but whoever it was, had vanished from the window in great haste.

With shaking hands he reached out for the remote control to rewind. He paused the video for a moment, sucking in a few deep breaths and then clicked on 'play'.

Loud clanking. Pieces of glass pattering on the floor and the helpless body of Marion Cavanaugh, his very own mother, following them, in deadly speed. He looked away when she eventually hit the ground. Fortunately, the person filming – whoever the heck it was – had spun away before they could witness how her bones cracked and splintered and how her internal organs would spread over the pavement.

Toby shivered. Tears streamed down his cheeks and his face turned puffy and red. All of the sudden he felt the urge to demolish something. He rose up quickly and headed straight towards his little TV. With a force he thought he'd never possess he dashed his fist into the display that still showed the blurry pictures of his mother's death. A billion shards covered the floor and he felt the warm feeling of blood gushing out of his knuckles. It burned like someone had rubbed jalapeños on his bare skin, but he didn't care. The noradrenaline rushing through his body eased the pain significantly. He panted and stared down on the mess he had caused. His chest ached as if his heart was going to explode at any minute. He felt so much energy in his body that he could've easily sprinted 100 miles without stopping. But instead, he fell to his knees, burying his reddened and wetted face in his bloody hands and cried.

**H**_**A**_**NNA**

When Hanna and Caleb arrived at in one of Rosewood's many back alleys, they found themselves at the door of an apartment that seemed to have been unoccupied for centuries. They door was almost falling off the hinges and the crimson varnish was slowly but surely exfoliating. There were some tiny, thin scratches at the bottom part of the door. Hanna reckoned that a couple of stray cats had tried to get indoors during winter.

"You sure we've got the right address?" She looked at Caleb with an unsure look on her face. It had took them a good 3 hours to localize Lucas' phone, but in the end the young hacking genius had managed to crack the code. They had exactly followed the coordinates they had received by the hacking software and now they were here.

"It should be." Caleb shrugged and tried to open the door, but an old-fashioned door-lock hindered him. It made a loud, uncomfortable rattling noise that resounded throughout the whole back alley. Hanna was pretty sure it even drowned out the passing cars on the main street.

"I am coming, wait a sec", a raspy voice called from somewhere inside with an annoyed undertone.

An old, craggy woman with greyish, thin hair and thick, fogged glasses appeared at the front step. She put her whole weight on a wooden cane. An unpleasant smell of cigarettes and detergent wafted in their direction. Her breath was slow and sounded like someone was rubbing a piece of sandpaper against the wall. "What do you want?" She asked in an unfriendly tone. Her skin looked leathern and Hanna could swear that a drip of spit had sprinkled her while she spoke. Grimacing in disgust, she wiped it off her face.

"Uh, … we were wondering if you know a Lucas Gottesmen? He is supposedly lives here. Caleb unsurely pointed inside the apartment.

The woman looked at him as if he had just proposed that Nessie, the sea monster had swum by a couple of minutes ago. Then she let out a snorting, incredulous laugh as if it was absolutely absurd that someone would live _here_.

"He's uh approximately as tall as I am, has dark, curled hairs, upturned nose, brown eyes, usually looks like his mother dresses him…"

The woman scrunched up her nose, which made her skin look even more wrinkled than it had looked before. "Oh, you mean _him_". She didn't really sound as if Lucas was a welcomed guest of hers.

"He moved out, couldn't afford the rent anymore. Plus, I found his behavior preposterous. He was always sneaking out in the midst of the night and meeting with shady figures. Whenever I would ask him, he'd act so secretive. I reckon he is a drug dealer, isn't he? Are you his colleagues? I don't want to have anything to do with this. I don't need the police in front of my door."

Hanna couldn't help it and burst out laughing. _Lucas? A drug dealer? Never. _She sucked in a deep breath to calm herself and then said: "I am sorry, but this is just so … ridiculous. Lucas is _not_ a drug dealer", she tried to assure the lady.

"Whatever he does for a living, I don't want to know or be involved. He packed up his stuff yesterday in the evening", she responded. Her hands were slightly shaking.

"But that can't be. We tracked down his cellphone number", Caleb accidentally blurted out.

The woman raised an eyebrow. "Wait a second", she vanished inside the apartment as quick as her joints would allow and reappeared a minute later with a silver, shiny piece of something in her hands.

"I was already wondering whose that might be." She showed them an old LG model with a scratched display.

Hanna reached out to take it, but the woman snatched it away from her. "This is not yours", she said with a stern and reprimanding voice. "You'll have to pay it for it, if you want it", she added in an obvious attempt to make some easy money.

Hanna pressed her lips together to a thin line. She was mentally calling the woman all kinds of names, but managed to keep her thoughts to herself. She shot Caleb a pleading glance. He took out his wallet, so he obviously got the hint. "How much do you want?" he asked, browsing through some 50s. Hanna looked somewhat astonished. _Not bad_, she thought to herself. She had yet had to get used to the fact that Caleb wasn't sleeping at schools or their guest room anymore, but had enough money to take care of himself.

The old lady looked as if she was going to drool over his portemonnaie. "150", she said as if she had counted his money. Caleb had to bite down on his lower lip to prevent himself from not saying anything inappropriate. "100", he tried to deal with her.

The woman hesitated for a second and decided that it was better than nothing. "Deal", she said and almost ripped the money out of Caleb's hands. She roughly pressed the LG in his hands and vanished inside the dark hole she called an apartment. The door was shut audibly.

"What a bitch", Hanna whispered to Caleb, but he simply shrugged it off. He looked at the electronic device in his hands. "Now what?"

**EMILY**

When Emily had left the lodge to meet with Sydney, she had to suppress the urge to look back repeatedly. _This will never be reality_, she told herself and the more she realized it was probably true, the more she felt an inner emptiness slowly but surely eating her from inside out.

At the Brew she was welcomed by a warm and wide grin of her new friend. Without hesitating the split of a second, Sydney approached her and swung her arms around her neck to pull her in for a friendly hug. Emily couldn't deny the tingle sneaking up her spine. But was it comparable to the feeling she got when Ali's soft lips had brushed hers, ready to fully embrace them. She wondered what would've happened if A hadn't interrupted them back then? And what would've happened if Sydney hadn't texted her about an hour ago? She couldn't put her finger on what the blonde had in mind whenever she acted so strangely around Emily. Didn't she know what she was causing? Oor was that the reason why she did it? Emily would've said it was kind of obvious that she had fallen for the blonde all over again or rather that her love had never completely vanished but was only kept at someplace safe in the back of her mind, held back by her attempt to start something new with Maya, Paige and now … Sydney? She let go off the girl and a crooked smile showed up on her face.

"So, Latte or Americano? It's my treat."

* * *

It was as if they had relived their date from yesterday, only this time Emily had felt even more at ease. She noticed the occasional touches and subtle compliments and more than once had her face turned a faint color of red. When they walked home, the sun had disappeared behind a mountain ridge in the distance and brightly shining stars covered the dark night sky. The two girls had decided to hang out in one of Rosewood's many romantic parks and were now sitting in the freshly mowed grass, inhaling its refreshing and natural smell. Emily allowed her gaze to drop blatantly on Sydney's well-shaped figure. When the girl returned her gaze, Emily looked away quickly.

Sydney smiled softly. "Can I ask you a question?"

Emily glanced back at her and nodded slowly. Above them two bats were fluttering frantically through the sky. The moon had now eventually replaced the sun and glowed majestically in the sky. The wind was whispering into her ear and the Canadian girl trembled.

"You and Paige, are you … are you still dating?" Her confidence had all of the sudden submerged and instead of her trademark-grin, her lips were a thin, impassive line. Her eyes darted back and forth and she played with a loose thread of her white and brown striped wool pullover. Her skin shimmered in the pale moonlight.

Emily breathed in slowly. She let a few seconds pass before she answered. "No, we broke up about a week ago. But we're friends." She hesitated, then she said "Why are you asking?"

"Just … curious", Sydney responded almost indifferently.

They remained a few moments in silence and Emily felt as if the tension between them was growing by the minute. She had to busy her hands with something else or she was afraid she would grab the girl by her shoulders to find an outlet for said tension. Thus she fiddled with the little fringes dangling from her leathern bag.

"We should go, huh? It's getting pretty late and I still haven't studied for that god damn economy test", Sydney broke the silence.

"Yes", Emily almost whispered. She couldn't, but feel a bit disappointed. They two of them got up, but for some reason unknown – maybe it was her circulatory system or maybe it was on purpose – Emily lost balance and threatened to trip. Impulsively Sydney caught her underneath her armpits and cautiously pulled her up, bringing the other girl dangerously close to herself. Emily's heart started racing when she sensed Sydney's familiar scent which was a mixture of chlorine and berry perfume.

"You okay?" The Alaskan girl asked, wearing a worried expression on her face. Emily nodded and then she surprised herself by leaning in quickly to close the minimal gap between them. She glided her lips against Sydney's, hesitantly as to intimate her own uncertainty. At first Sydney didn't respond and Emily was already pulling her mouth away from hers, her eyes widened in shock and shame, but then the other girl placed her long fingers on Emily's cheek and pulled her in for a more passionate kiss. She teasingly dipped her tongue in Emily's mouth for a thorough exploration. Her other hand was lightly placed on the spot of Emily's back that would make her loose her footing when touched in the right way. She softly caressed it and Emily couldn't suppress a subtle moan. She could feel Sydney's smile in-between their kisses. She forced her eye lids down and kissed harder and more forcefully. Sydney seemed kind of startled, but adjusted quickly. However, Emily couldn't wipe Alison's perfect face off her memory system during the entire make out session.

_Maybe, this person has always been around me, but I had never realized it,_ she repeated the sentence over and over in her head and visualized Ali's heart shaped lips forming the letters. Her piercing blue eyes looking right through her.

_There's always that special someone, who you could fall for over and over again, you know?_

_No!_ A voice in the back of her head screamed. She abruptly pulled away from Sydney starring desperately at the other girl. For the split of a second she looked into Ali's face instead of hers. Emily had to blink several times to realize it was just a hallucination.

"Is something…is something wrong?" Sydney asked in obvious confusion. "If this is about Paige, I totally understand…it's just that I really like you", she added quickly.

Emily took in a deep breath, ready to tell her that she was trying to get over someone and that this would be doomed like any other relationship of hers. But the words got stuck in her throat. Instead she muttered an excuse to leave under her breath, picked up her stuff and hurried away, leaving a bewildered Sydney behind.

_**A**_**RIA**

They met at a secluded place somewhere far away from Rosewood's bustling city center. Wesley Fitzgerald was casually leaning against the outside of his black Dodge which looked ostentatious next to the bleak and empty landscape. He was wearing a plaid cashmere shirt and a pair of faded True Religious jeans. A cigarette but hung from the corner of his mouth. Aria didn't even know he smoked. But then again, there were a few more things he hadn't told her about. She drove up to his side with her shimmery blue SUV and exited the car. A cold breeze hit her as soon as she put her foot on the soft grass underneath her. She looked up at the dark night sky and almost expected a rain drop to fall down on her face. Wesley looked as if he had aged at least 5 years over the past few days with dark circles framing his eyes. Aria frowned and approached him with undeniable reluctance.

He nodded in her direction, sucked one last time on his cigarette and then threw it away. Aria scrunched up her nose in disgust. _He could have at least stomp it out_, she thought, but didn't say anything. There were far more important things on their to-discuss-list.

Aria's eyes awkwardly darted back and forth. There were so many things on her mind that she wanted to express, she didn't know where to start.

"So?" Wesley asked, one eyebrow raised, his face vacant and his tone colder than usual.

"So?" Aria mimicked indignantly. "First of all, would you care to explain why you wanted to hurt your very own brother?" She almost screamed. Her voice echoed through the air.

"I didn't", Wesley answered coldly. "I just didn't tell you about it, is all."

"Wha…" Aria felt her words get stuck inside her throat. _He didn't? _

"Yeah, sure. And why should I believe _that_?"

"Look…" He spread his arms helplessly. "I liked you okay? And yes maybe it wasn't right to keep it a secret from you, but I had my reasons. You don't need to understand. But for god's sake, stop saying I would hurt my brother. I care about him just as much as you do." He pulled out another cigarette and lit it.

Aria was obviously dumbfounded. She stood there, motionless, her raven hair softly swaying in the wind. If Wes hadn't tried to kill Ezra, there was only one other option. Her heart skipped a beat as she mouthed a silent "A".

Wesley looked at her with a frown. Blue smoke floated in the air when he parted his lips slightly. "What?"

"No…nothing", Aria said. Her head was spinning and a nauseating feeling overcame her. If the young male wouldn't be here now, she would have vanished behind her car and threw up. Her hands were shaking and cold sweat beads formed on her forehead. "I gotta go." She spun round on her heel and got into her car. She fiddled with the seatbelt and put her still trembling hands on the steering wheel. Tears dotted her eyes and a quiet whimper escaped her lips.

Wesley was still standing next to the street, sucking on his cigarette, starring confusedly at her through the windshield.

The engine roared loudly as she turned the ignition key and backed out of her position. As she drove down the road heading towards the inner city of Rosewood, she took a glimpse of Wesley's figure evaporating in the distance in her rearview mirror.

**EMILY**

She had at least run 2 miles without stopping. Her throat burned and a stinging pain went through her chest. Her mind was clouded with at least a gazillion thoughts. She didn't know what else to do or say, so she had just escaped from Sydney. Truth was, she liked her too, and she wanted nothing more but to get on with her life and forget about Alison. But it almost seemed as if the blonde didn't want her to forget about her. Since Ali had returned to their clique, she had done nothing but throw ambivalent, unclear signs at Emily, confusing the girl even more than she already was. It was as if Emily couldn't escape those feelings, only if Alison was gone…for good.

She forced her eyes shut and felt a single tear streaming down her face. She had to come clean with this. Either she'd tell Alison about her feelings or she'd go insane.

_**A**_**LISON**

Alison would lie if she would say that the events of today hadn't made her feel a teensy bit better. The fact that someone was actually capable of forgiving her for all the gruesome things she had done was so flattering, it had brought tears of joy to her eyes.

She hummed gleefully along a song by "The Pierces" that resounded from a tiny radio on the kitchen counter. And because she knew tomorrow nothing would've changed and A would still be longing for her death, she savored every second of this rare moment of content.

Until her cellphone bleeped…

It was as if the room turned from cozily warm to deadly cold. A shiver snaked up her spin and spread over her entire body. All of the sudden, every little noise around her seemed a hundred miles away. Only the ticking of the clock was audible – tick, tick, tick. Her eyes hesitantly wandered to her glowing phone. It kept on chiming and Alison almost considered deleting the message before reading it. But then again, that might put her into even greater danger.

With her trembling hands she reached out to silence the device by clicking on "Open new text message".

Her face froze with horror.

_"Little Alison rising from the death. How about you let everyone in on your little secret? You better do what I tell you, or I'll bring another dirty secret back from the death. –A"_

She let go of her phone and it fell to the floor with a loud clattering noise.

_They knew_.

… '_**cause two can only keep a secret, if one of them is dead …**_


	9. deAd girl walking

**The Devil within**

**A Pretty Little Liars Fanfiction**

**Set after 4x24 "A is for Alive"**

* * *

**Title: **The Devil within

**Author: **Myself

**Co-Author: **-

**Fandom: **ABC Family's Pretty Little Liars

**Pairings: **Spoby, Emison, Haleb, Ezria, Tranna

**Spoilers: ** SE04 &amp; SE05

**Posting: **Romance/Drama/Mystery

**Rating: **MA

**A/N: **All characters of Pretty Little Liars belong to Sara Shepard and ABC Family ©

**Synopsis: **Alison's return to Rosewood inflicts each of the liar's life in an individual way. Whilst Emily has to deal with her undying love, Aria will go down a dark path and she's taking a few people with her. Hanna has to wriggle herself out of a love triangle and Spencer must do anything in her power to keep her family together after she finds a couple of skeletons in their closets.

* * *

_**A**_**LISON**

Alison DiLaurentis shot up, panting, her blue eyes widened with fear. A single lock from her blonde mane dangled in front of her face and she felt cold sweat wetting her white tank top.

She blinked a few times and took in her surroundings. The surface she was lying on felt rough and scratchy and it took her some time to realize she had fallen asleep on Ezra's couch.

A throbbing pain went through her head. And then, the memory of yesterday came back – clear and vivid.

_A knew._ They knew the only secret she had buried so long ago that she would've never thought that it would one day come back to haunt her. The one she had never shared with anyone, except her mother, but she would keep this secret forever, obviously.

Alison shifted uncomfortably on the couch, the itchy fabric scratching the bare skin of her legs. In response, her skin turned bright red. She jumped off the furniture and vanished into the bathroom, her head still spinning with billions of thoughts and emotions.

She looked at her blurred reflection in the mirror and what she saw honestly frightened her. It looked as if she had aged at least 10 years overnight. She quickly grabbed a brush and went through her thick, wild mane that went in every possible direction. Then she applied a light shade of concealer that matched her complexity and put most of it underneath her sapphire eyes which were framed by dark circles.

Feeling reasonably satisfied with her appearance, she marched into the tiny kitchen department and switched on the coffee machine.

She touched her hammering forehead and a subtle, pained moan escaped her lips.

And whilst listening to the rattling noise of the coffee machine and the occasional chirping of birds outside the lodge, she thought about how everyone would react if she'd really do what A had ordered.

**H**_**A**_**NNA**

"Okay so the phone-hunt was a bust, big deal, I couldn't have known", Hanna justified her ideas, defensively gesticulating with her arms. They were at the Marin's, languidly sipping on bottles of flavored water and zipping through every TV channel available. Lucas' phone rested uncaredly on the TV desk, its lighted display showing a dark blue wallpaper of outer space with a few icons.

Caleb sighed and took a great gulp of his bottle. "Never mind, just means I will have to rob my savings account to afford an apartment. Probably something like good old Lucas' shithole of a residence."

"I said, I was sorry. I'll give you the money, if it is_ that _important to you", Hanna offered apologetically, but one could hear the annoyance in her voice.

"Just…let's not talk about it. Maybe…" The boy with the messy haircut grabbed the phone from the desk. "…there is something we've overlooked." He scrolled through Lucas' previous calls.

"I am still wondering why he called the Rosewood Community Hospital so often. Maybe someone he knows is staying there? Like a friend or something?" Hanna suggested.

Caleb frowned deep in thought. He stared intently at the screen. "We could try to find out." He looked at Hanna, one eyebrow raised.

"Uh,…sure, why not?" She felt a warm feeling when she noticed Caleb was smiling at her. "So, you're not mad at me anymore?" She asked with a weepy voice and the most innocent look she could muster up.

"How could I ever?" Caleb responded and gave her a light peck on the lips.

* * *

The smell of ammoniac wafted in their direction and burned in their nostrils as they entered the brightly illuminated entrance hall of the Rosewood Community Hospital. White tiles embellished the walls and to their right was a gigantic greyish information desk with a grumpy looking nurse frantically typing on the keyboard.

"Uh, excuse me, Madame?" Caleb asked politely, showing off his beautiful white teeth when he smiled.

The nurse, about 30 years old, turned her eyes away from the screen to meet his gaze disinterestedly.

"Yes, what can I do for you?" She asked with a monotonous voice, her eyes back to the screen and her fingers wandering over the keys with an annoying tat-tat-tat.

"I was wondering if you could tell me if someone with the name 'Lucas Gottesmen' has been here in the past few days?" He tried to sound unsuspicious but the question alone sounded strange.

The nurse eyed him warily as if he was hiding a grenade under his leather jacket. Eventually she typed in a few words, made a couple of mouse clicks and then said: "Yes, this name is registered in our files." Hanna looked agitatedly at her boyfriend.

"But I am not in the position to give you further information unless you are a relative of the Gottesmen family", the nurse added sternly.

Hanna's excited smile turned upside down. "But…but this is important", she whined. "Listen, we are close friends of Lucas and he has been avoiding us for weeks now. He lost his phone and we found the hospital's number in his calls list. That's why we came here. You need to help us", she pleaded.

The nurse's look didn't change. "I am sorry, but I can't. You have to understand that there are certain rules that I have to oblige to."

Caleb looked to his right and to his left, then fumbled in his pocket for his wallet. "Maybe this will change your mind", he said, his voice kept low. He pushed a 50 in her direction and could tell that she was cracking by the way she looked at the money.

She didn't take it right away though, maybe as if to say that she'd normally wouldn't do such a thing, but in the end she couldn't resist.

Without another word, she typed Lucas' surname in again and nervously licked over her lips.

"He was visiting Margaret Gottesmen, his mother", she said eventually. "That's all I can tell you. I must ask you to leave now."

Caleb looked at Hanna for confirmation and she nodded in agreement "We should really go." Then she turned to the nurse. "Thank you. You've helped us a lot."

The woman didn't seem very flattered. She simply turned away from the two and pretended to sort patient files.

When the couple was out on the streets again and hurried to Caleb's car, Hanna said: "Why do you think his mother is in the hospital? Must be something serious if he has called the hospital _that _often."

Caleb shot her a serious look. "I dunno, but I have a feeling A has something to do with it."

**EMILY**

Emily's head was spinning with emotions. She had barricaded herself in her room, turned off all the lights and covered the windows with her floral patterned way-too-gaudy curtains. The melody of an old Avril Lavigne song resounded from her headphones. She had ignored every call or text she got over the last few hours, including the ones from her friends who worriedly asked where she was.

A silent sigh escaped her lips as she stared vacantly at her eggshell-white wall, desperately contemplating her _real_ reasons for the kiss with Sydney.

There was no way around the fact that she did indeed feel attracted to the girl but what on earth had pushed her to take such a huge risk by simply kissing her without a 100 per cent assurance that she'd reciprocate the action. She remembered doing the exact same thing a few years back, with Alison.

But the crucial thing here was that it had felt nothing near to what the kiss with Alison had felt like, even though it technically couldn't really be considered a 'kiss' in this sense.

She felt so weak for being unable to let go of this infecting feelings that had settled in the depths of her brain like a parasite in his host.

But then again, it was not primarily her fault that this feelings wouldn't go away. Whenever there was chance, Alison would do something extremely ambiguous that would leave Emily dumbstruck and confused, like their two almost-kisses for example.

Sometimes, the girl wished she could just grab Alison by her shoulders and shake her so long until she'd finally determine what role she wanted to play in Emily's life. She needed a clear answer, and she needed it now.

* * *

When Emily reached the lodge, she could feel her heartbeat increase. It was 9am in the morning and the air was chilly when she stepped out of her Prius and walked towards the entry door. She shivered and wrapped her arms around herself to keep warm. She peaked into the lodge, but Alison wasn't in her field of view.

On her way here she had been through a rollercoaster ride of emotions and a constant change from bound and determined to hesitant and scared. There had even been a few times where she intentionally took the wrong way to win more time. _Just do it, Em, it'll only make things better_ – she had said to herself, but for some reason she had doubted her words.

And now that she was here, her heart crazily pounding against her chest, she had to suppress the urge to run away at any given minute.

With one last deep breath, she softly knocked on the door and opened it right afterwards. It made an uncomfortable screeching noise and Emily hesitantly stepped inside. She was instantly welcomed by cozy warmth and the delicious smell of freshly brewed coffee.

Alison sat on a chair next to the kitchen counter, casually sipping on a cup but Emily could tell, there was something off about her – but then again, when wasn't there?

"Oh, hey, I didn't expect you here", she greeted with a faint smile and placed her cup back on the counter. "You want some coffee?" She offered.

Emily stayed on the other side of the room and nodded silently. After a few seconds of hesitance, she allowed herself to sit down next to Alison on Ezra's living room couch. Emily could feel an enormous lump forming in her throat. She glanced at Alison who seemed oddly calm.

"So, listen…" She started but as soon as Alison looked her directly into the eyes, she forgot every word she had so perfectly planned out.

"I…uh…" She fiddled with a loose thread of her cerise cardigan.

"I want to reveal myself to Rosewood", Alison suddenly blurted out before Emily could finish her sentence.

Her mouth was slightly ajar and she looked at the blonde in utter disbelief. "You want what?"

"I am sick of hiding", Alison lied, but since she was incredibly good on manipulating it sounded as if she was telling nothing, but the truth.

"But…I thought you were so afraid of A?" Emily was desperately trying to put sense into all of this, but so far she hadn't even fully processed it.

"I am, but they know where I am anyway. And if I officially return to the living, I am in a better position to strike back when they attack. I would have the police on my side, just to name one advantage."

Emily sucked in a deep breath and held it for a few seconds. _This_ made things ten times more difficult.

"I'll call the others later to bring them into the loop. So, anyway, what did you want to tell me before I interrupted you so rudely?"

Emily swallowed hard. This was definitely the wrong moment to confess her feelings. She took a brief moment to think. Then she said: "Never mind, it wasn't that important to begin with."

Alison looked doubtful, but she nodded nevertheless. Somehow, she had a feeling what it could've been about anyway.

**SPENCER**

"Damn it", she cursed and threw her cellphone into a bunch of pillows on the living room couch. She had been trying to call her boyfriend all day since he had been ignoring all of her texts. But whenever she tried, the call went straight to his mailbox. She left a few messages, worried and angry ones, but they weren't successful either.

She could hear her sister's voice echoing through the hallway. She was talking to somebody on the phone about budgeting and balances. Spencer reckoned it was one of her study colleagues.

Spencer pulled her legs to her chest and listened attentively. The last time she spied on her sister, she had found her together with no one other than the devil itself, CeCe Drake. So far, Spencer had suppressed the urge to interrogate her.

"Hey, you home today? I need you to sign a delivery for me." Melissa's head suddenly popped out of the open door to the living room, phone still pressed to her ear, the earpiece covered with one hand.

"Sure" Spencer responded flatly. She stared at one of her parent's abstract paintings while she considered bringing up the matter she had been holding back for so long now.

"Uh, Melissa?"

"Yes?" The older girl had laid the telephone on the counter, obviously done with her conversation, and looked curiously in the direction of her sister. "What is it?" She asked with a hint of annoyance in her voice.

"Can I ask you something private?" Spencer's lips quivered slightly as if she was about to ask a professional killer about his latest crime.

Melissa raised one of her perfectly plucked eyebrows, her expression everything but warm and cooperative.

"Is there any chance that you and CeCe Drake have been in contact after she has fled from prison?" Spencer bit down on her lip, anxiously awaiting the woman's response. She could see how one of Melissa's eye lids started to twitch crazily. It was more than obvious that the fact that Spencer knew about her connection to CeCe was upsetting her. However, as usual Melissa would act like the perfect princess everyone believed she was and lie her way out of this.

"Why would I?" She answered with a fake smile. Spencer could've forecasted her every word.

"You tell me. I mean, there must be a reason why you talked to her a few days ago, right here in this house." Spencer managed to sound a lot more confident than she felt at that moment. She hadn't planned on going the offensive way, but right now it seemed to be her only possible option to stalemate her sister.

Melissa's smile faded and changed into a thin, impassive line. _Bingo!_

"I don't know what you are talking about. I think your amphetamine abstinence is causing hallucinations. You should go see a doctor, Spence."

"Don't you dare make this about me!" Spencer almost shouted. She rose from the couch and stepped a few inches closer to her sister. "You know very well, what I am talking about."

"I suggest you stay out of my business and I will shut up about yours", Melissa said sharply. Their air between Spencer and her became so thin, Spencer couldn't breathe for a few seconds.

"What, is this a game to you?" Spencer asked in disgust. "Who has the dirtiest secret?" She laughed disbelievingly. "Why don't you just tell the truth? For once in your life?"

A sick smile crept over Melissa's face – a smile that made Spencer shudder with fear. "You always _think_ you know the answers, Spencer. But you don't, that's the only truth here."

_**A**_**RIA**

Aria's head felt clouded and heavy when she opened her eyes for the first time this morning. Her body felt drained and dehydrated. She tried to stand up and almost knocked over an empty bottle of Whiskey. Dizziness overcame her and she clumsily stumbled into the direction of the bathroom. She kneeled down next to the toilet and closed her eyes as a gurgling sound escaped her throat.

With a sickening feel of shame and guilt she stood up again, wiped the rest of her vomit from her face and looked into the bathroom mirror. A single tear rolled down her left cheek and her lips trembled.

Slowly but surely the events from yesterday dawned on her.

After she had driven away from Ezra's younger brother Wesley, whom she had accused of attempted murder, she had made a turn at the next liquor store and … here she was, hugging her toilet for dear life, like a pathetic looser who couldn't get a grip on their life.

This has been going on for so long and neither of them had ever managed to score a point against A. The only thing that kept coming was the death of beloved people around them. She buried her nails into the soft fabric of a towel and held back the oncoming tears when her mind flashed back to Ezra's lifeless body in her hands.

Something vibrated in her pocket. Still overwhelmed with emotions she retrieved her Motorola and flipped it open. One new text message.

"_There's an easy way out of this and you know it. One hand washes the other. Hand me Alison DiLaurentis on a silver platter and I will bring back your boyfriend from the dead. If you do not oblige, well, you know what I am capable of."_

_Kisses_

_\- A_

_**A**_**LISON**

She didn't want it to be a big ceremony or anything like that. Most of all, because the majority of people wouldn't want to celebrate Rosewood's bitchiest blonde returning from the death. She would simply walk out of her hiding place, head held high and hope that no one had already aimed their gun at her.

She took a few fire breaths. Her body felt so heated, she was sure a thermometer would show that she had a 40° fever. Her sweat pores were wide open and she felt an uncomfortable wetness in her hands when she pushed down the door handle.

A soft and fresh breeze welcomed her and the sun glistered in the sky. She let her eyes wander over the many puppet-house-like mansions of Rosewood's inhabitants, each single one of them trying to outscore the other with its typically suburban exterior façade and picture-perfect garden.

She had stayed at Hanna's house for the past couple of hours after the girls had carefully transported her from the lodge to the inner city of Rosewood. She had to assure them multiple times that _this_ was seriously what she wanted without mentioning her true reasons, of course.

Rosewood seemed strangely quiet for such a blissful day. She had expected to see children playing on the streets, neighbors chatting over their fences and Rosewood's elite sunbathing in their gardens, but as if on cue, everyone had barricaded themselves in their houses.

Alison took one last deep breath and stepped down the porch, her eyes nervously darting from right to left. Even though there was no one here, she felt as if someone was constantly watching her.

After she passed a few blocks, the first people noticed her, their jaws dropping to the floor like they'd literally just seen a ghost.

Alison smiled at them faintly. And when she kept on walking, she could still feel their looks boring through her back.

A sickening feeling overcame her when the realness of the situation dawned on her. She increased the speed of her steps and hurried towards the local police department. Before she entered the building, she turned around one last time, meeting several bewildered gazes and frowning faces.

Inside, the reaction of the officers wasn't any different from the rest of Rosewood. They looked at her in pure astonishment, some were even whispering something into their colleague's ear and before she could say anything, Detective Holbrook placed his athletic figure in front of her. He wore an unreadable look on his face and his eyes were framed by dark circles. He was standing so close, Alison could inhale the faint smell of his Hugo Boss cologne. The last time she had smelled this scent was when she had hooked up with Ian Thomas, a sleazy field hockey coach with a thing for younger girls. It sort of confused her that they shared the same taste in perfume.

"Ms. DiLaurentis, I see you have finally chosen to show yourself", Holbrook said to her. He sounded tired.

Alison nodded shyly.

"Do you wish to tell me your infamous story?" He licked the insides of his teeth and fixated her with his dark brown eyes.

She hesitated. Logically, she could only tell him an alternated version of what had really happened all this years, but what if he'd attach her to a lie detector or something crazy like they usually show in crime movies?

She bit her lower lip in thought, avoiding his piercing gaze. Eventually, she gave in and followed him into one of the many investigation rooms.

**EMILY**

After Alison had announced that she would officially change her status from murdered to very much alive, Emily had felt the urge to go for a run. Her lungs burned from the cold air she inhaled and her legs were sore. She thought about the consequences Alison's actions would imply, not only for Alison herself but for all the others related to her. What would Paige do when she would find out that her archenemy would be going to the same school as her again? What would Jenna, or even worse, Mona do?

But most importantly, what will Emily do? She had finally mustered up the courage to admit her feelings for the blonde, but right now it didn't seem to be an appropriate time to tell her, since there would be tons of other problems on her mind as soon as everyone knew she was back for good.

Emily passed a row of buildings and eventually reached Rosewood High, where she came to a breathless halt. She looked across the campus to the natatorium and wondered if anyone was here in the afternoon. A few years back Emily had often gone to the empty Rosewood High swim hall to escape all of her problems. She had dipped her legs in the cool pool water and had sat in utter silence for a few minutes. The only noise that had kept her company was the humming of the water filter.

Emily thought for a couple of seconds, then jogged resolutely in the direction of the natatorium. She checked right and left if anyone from the school personnel was in her proximity, then entered the building.

Her footsteps echoed through the gigantic hall and the familiar smell of chlorine infused the air.

She took a seat on the edge of the pool, put off her mud stained sneakers and socks and let her feet dangle in the water. The cool temperature soon decreased to a comfortable warmness. Emily closed her eyes in contempt and tried to leave her cares behind, but for some reason the voice at the back of her head wouldn't shut up.

A sudden noise caught her attention and Emily pulled out her feet in shock. It sounded like someone had just entered the building. Emily's eyes darted back and forth and her pulse rose by at least 20 beats. Who could be here at that time? The janitor? One of her coaches? She quickly climbed to her feet and put her shoes back on without lacing them.

Someone was definitely walking in her direction and before she could even attempt to flee, they were standing right in front of her.

Emily's jaw dropped and her eyes widened. "Syd..Sydney?" She stammered. "What are you doing here?"

"Uh, I wanted to take a swim." Sydney pointed to the giant sports bag around her shoulders. "What are you doing here?"

A few slow seconds ticked by, before Emily answered. "I just like being here sometimes to get some peace", she muttered shyly. From the corners of her eyes she could see that Sydney was smiling.

"That's cute", she said. She opened her mouth to add something else, but eventually decided not to.

The tension in the air was almost palpable but even if Emily wanted to explain why she'd ran away the other day, she wouldn't know where to start.

"So, listen… I am sorry if things got a little bit … uhm … out of hand between us. If you don't want us to be involved like _this_, you can say so. I was just confused, because you kissed me first and I thought you wanted this, so …" Sydney said with her adorable accent.

Emily's cheeks reddened and she looked away sheepishly. "It's not like that. I did want to kiss you, but it's just … there are still a few things I need to figure out, before I could even see myself dating someone."

Sydney nodded slowly, her facial expression unreadable, but she definitely didn't look happy. "I get that. I have some troubles of my own, but running away from them seems so much easier than confronting yourself, right?" The corners of her mouth twitched in the attempt to form a smile.

"Doubtlessly", Emily answered, her eyes still avoiding Sydney's gaze.

"But we can still be friends, right? I really like you. And correct me if I am wrong, but I think you like me too."

Emily fiddled with a single strand of her hair. "I suppose we could", she muttered.

"Do you want to join me then, as a friend?" Sydney asked and nodded in the direction of the pool. The surface sparkled with the reflection of sunlight that seeped inside through the gigantic windows, and the filter hummed uninterruptedly.

"But I don't even have my bathing suit with me", Emily pointed out.

Sydney shrugged. "So what? Just swim in your underwear."

At that remark, Emily couldn't but blush again. Snoopy hotpants and a sports bra weren't exactly the definition of sexy, but then again, it wasn't as if she wanted to impress Sydney, or …?

They changed quickly and met at the edge of the pool again. Emily had to force her eyes off Sydney's curvaceous and perfectly athletic body. Her long hair was tied back in a ponytail and her eyes glistered with eagerness.

Emily hugged her almost naked upper body and looked down on her pale pink panties with the way-too-big snoopy figure on it. She was visibly embarrassed.

"So, whoever's first at the end of the pool gets to decide what we'll do after swimming?" Sydney suggested. "You're on", Emily responded and tried to concentrate on winning rather than her fashion problem.

They jumped into the pool like dolphins, perfectly gliding through the water with the speed of a professional. Sydney was a few centimeters ahead of Emily and eventually reached the finish line before her.

"Good, you win", Emily admitted her defeat. "To your service, my master" she added with a faked British accent. Both of them had to laugh hysterically, but when the stopped and silence felt the room, Emily couldn't help but look at the other girl and admire her perfectly shaped face, her beautiful eyes and full lips. This time, Alison didn't swam into view and Emily had to bite down hard on her lips to not press forward and do another mistake that would inflict her friendship with Sydney. From Sydney's desperate look, she could only guess that the girl was fighting with the exact same feelings. "We should go, before anyone catches us", Sydney said and pushed herself out of the pool. Emily lingered inside the water for a few more seconds before she followed the other girl.

_**A**_**LISON**

When Alison left the police station, she felt emotionally drained and tired. After she had told Detective Holbrook the story of her disappearance – without a few details – he had immediately called her father. Alison also told how A had captivated her brother Jason and that she was afraid that he was already dead. And she told that A might be a sociopath. She hadn't been able to control the flood of tears when she thought about everything that came out of her mouth. How she believed that A was capable of killing all of the people she loved and how they were probably the killer of her mother. When the detective realized that besides crying there wasn't much he could get out of her anymore, he told her that he had everything he needed.

But despite her rollercoaster ride of emotions just a few minutes ago, Alison felt relieved. But there was one more thing on her agenda.

She called a cab and asked them to drive her to the Rosewood Community hospital. On her ride, she couldn't shake the eerie feeling that someone was following her. She kept on looking behind her and noticed a black car with tinted windows mimicking their every turn.

When they eventually arrived in front of the hospital, Alison exited the car cautiously, looking from right to left. She handed the driver 50 dollars without asking for change. Then she quickly hurried through the entrance. So far she hadn't found the black car but if it had really been A, they wouldn't have been so dumb to park right next to her cab.

She walked towards the information desk and asked for the room number of "Ezra Fitz". The secretaries' hands flew over the keyboards and she eventually told Alison a three-digit number.

The blonde entered the elevator and sucked in a deep breath. Before the automatic doors fully closed, she could catch a glimpse of a dark figure, heading into the direction of the staircase. Alison's heart sank to her boots. She pressed her body against the back of the elevator, shuddering when the cold metal touched the naked skin of her hands. She could see her anxious reflection in the mirror at her left and when a high-pitched "ding" signalized that she had reached the fifth level, she had to suppress a shriek.

A myriad of noises welcomed her from people talking to devices bleeping. The bright light of the halogen lamps blinded her and she could smell a mixture of sanitizer and sick people. Her heart was still crazily bumping against her chest and her eyes nervously scanned the area.

She walked briskly to room number 509 and accidently bumped into a few doctors on her way. As soon as she had entered the room, she closed both the door and the curtains. She fell down on one of the visitor chairs and let out a breath she had been holding since she had exited the elevator.

In front of her Ezra Fitz was placidly lying on his hospital bed, eyes closed, his chest slowly rising up and down. A respiratory mask covered his face and a tube from his arm led to an IV bag with a yellowish looking substance. There were a few electrodes attached to his thorax which derived the rhythm of his heartbeat and depicted it as a curve on an ECG.

Alison took a deep breath and then began to talk with a quiet voice: "I just wanted to say that I am sorry." She licked the insides of her teeth. It did feel a little strange to talk to a comatose patient.

"I never wanted to drag you into all of this. And I most definitely didn't want you to get hurt like that." A single tear streamed down her face. She hesitantly took his hand into hers and what happened then was almost a miracle.

The ECG curve suddenly changed and Ezra's eye lids flickered. Alison's heart skipped a few beats and when she realized what was happening, she let go of Ezra's hand. A high-pitched alarm went off as he started to struggle for air. Before Alison vanished, she could see Ezra's brown eyes staring at her.

When she hurried to the elevator, she passed a team of doctors who rushed to room 509. As soon as the automatic doors opened she jumped inside, her heart still hammering wildly. Out of her peripheral vision she could see someone dressed in black following her with their eyes. She agitatedly pushed the button for the ground-floor, breathing flatly. Silence enveloped her as the display began to count down from 5 to 0. When it stopped and the doors reopened, she sprinted out, heading into the direction of the exit. She almost ran over an elderly man with his walking cane. The motion sensor recognized her movement and opened the door for her. Fresh and cold air welcomed her as she stepped out into the night. She looked desperately from right to left and there it was, the black car from before. It stood next to a few bushes, approximately 10 meters away from the hospital. Before Alison could turn around, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She tried to scream but another hand covered her mouth and the burning smell of chloroform filled her nostrils. She coughed and tried to wind herself out of her captor's arms but eventually went numb as the substance infiltrated her brain and switched off her conscience.

The dark figure hurriedly transported Alison's body to the car, panting and wheezing. Then another figure, also completely dressed in black, emerged from the bushes and helped them put Alison's body in the car's trunk.


	10. bAd intentions

**The Devil within**

**A Pretty Little Liars Fanfiction**

**Set after 4x24 "A is for Alive"**

* * *

**Title: **The Devil within

**Author: **Myself

**Co-Author: **-

**Fandom: **ABC Family's Pretty Little Liars

**Pairings: **Spoby, Emison, Haleb, Ezria, Tranna

**Spoilers: ** SE04 &amp; SE05

**Posting: **Romance/Drama/Mystery

**Rating: **MA

**A/N: **All characters of Pretty Little Liars belong to Sara Shepard and ABC Family ©

**Synopsis: **Alison's return to Rosewood inflicts each of the liar's life in an individual way. Whilst Emily has to deal with her undying love, Aria will go down a dark path and she's taking a few people with her. Hanna has to wriggle herself out of a love triangle and Spencer must do anything in her power to keep her family together after she finds a couple of skeletons in their closets.

* * *

_**A**_**LISON**

When Alison woke up she had lost all sense of time. She was surrounded by pure darkness and the only sound she could perceive was the distant dripping of a water tap. Her mouth tasted sour and her nostrils were still burning from the chloroform she had been subjected to an unknown period of time ago. The hard concrete floor underneath her made her back ache and the temperature was somewhat frosty, almost like there was an open window somewhere in her proximity. She blinked a few times, her retina desperately trying to adjust to the lack of light. Her memory only consisted of a few blurry pictures that didn't fit together. It felt like waking up after a night of severe drinking with the worst hangover even imaginable. The last thing she could recall was that she had been at the hospital, looking for Ezra Fitz, both her and one of her closest friend's former love interest. And then … then what? A picture swam into her mind. Brown eyes. Starring at her. And then the realization hit her like a rock. They were Ezra's eyes! He was awake!

A noise from somewhere across the room she was in startled her. It sounded like someone was talking behind closed doors. Alison robbed closer to where she thought the sound was coming from. And she was right, there were muffled voices, two of them, to be exact. She hesitantly poked one of her arms into the darkness, trying to feel for a resistance like a door, or at least a wall. It took a while before her fingers brushed against a wooden surface – bingo!

A burning pain went through her limbs when she pushed herself off the ground. Her movements were still a little shaky, but she managed to put her ear to the door, attentively listening to the conversation behind. It was only wild speculation, but Alison thought that there was both a male and a female voice and from what it seemed like, they were arguing. The female voice sounded strangely familiar, but when Alison tried to associate it with a name or a face, it didn't ring a bell. The male voice on the other hand almost sounded surreal, like whoever was talking, was using some machinery to alter his voice.

Alison almost fell backwards on the concrete floor, when a force pushed against the door. She quickly jumped aside, hiding in a dark corner. She pressed both hands to her mouth to control her panicked breathing. Her eyes had widened and she could hear her own heart thudding in her head.

A stream of light flooded through the open door and a figure completely clothed in black peeked inside, carefully scanning the whole room. When they rested their eyes on the anxious blonde quivering in her corner, half concealed by darkness, Alison's heart skipped at least 3 whole beats.

Without the slightest hesitance, the person walked straight up to her and violently grabbed her. She tried to defend herself but they twisted her arm around in a way that any further movement would cause her such immense pain that the only two options she had were obliging or fainting.

They pushed her on the ground again and pulled out what looked like a rope. Within a few seconds Alison was bound and gagged. She felt hot tears streaming down her cheeks. Her wrists were bound so tight, it almost cut off her circulation. She glanced at the other figure shyly standing in the door frame. It she could put any kind of emotion to their posture, it would've been fear. She could tell from the person's body language that this wasn't exactly what they had signed up for. She squinted her eyes at the mysterious figure, trying to detect any details. They were obviously dressed in the same bland outfit as her tormentor with a hood over their head, but Alison could swear she saw a dark lock in the millisecond the light shone on the mysterious person's face. A strange feeling settled inside her, one she couldn't quite define.

**THE GIRLS**

They had gathered inside Ezra's lodge, each of them equipped with a Starbucks coffee cup. Hanna sat cross-legged on the scruffy coach, shifting every now and then as the fabric was incredibly itchy. She had both hands wrapped around a large Soya Latte. Next to her sat her boyfriend Caleb, his posture tensed and rigid. After Hanna had let him in on the big secret they'd been keeping, he had agreed to help them protect Alison. Spencer had her head propped on her elbows on the kitchen counter. She looked like she had stayed up 3 nights in a row. Her hair was tied in a messy bun and she had dark circles underneath her eyes. She had downed at least 3 espressos, but the caffeine hadn't kicked in yet. She occasionally glanced at her cellphone, fearing it would light up and show a text from A telling them that Alison was gone forever. Right next to her sat Toby, who had finally decided to answer one of her calls since it seemed to be some kind of emergency. However, he hadn't yet told her why exactly he had been ignoring her all this time.

Emily leaned against a wall in the back, arms crossed and eyes to the floor. She kept on chewing on her lips and hadn't really contributed anything to their conversation so far.

They had called in this meeting to question Alison's current whereabouts since the blonde had been missing yesterday without a single word of where she planned on going.

"Where's Aria?" Hanna asked, casually sipping on her latte.

"She should be here in a minute" Spencer answered briefly. The entrance door creaked as if in response to Hanna's question, and Aria poked her raven-haired head inside. She looked paler than usual and Spencer noticed on of the muscles around her eyes was twitching.

Aria excused herself for being late and took a seat down next to Hanna and Caleb. Her black and white plaid canvas tote bag slid of her shoulder as she sat down. A few utensils dropped out, including a small unlabeled bottle of liquid. She instantly grabbed it and stuffed it back into her bag. Hanna raised a questioning eyebrow. "What was that? A new way to smuggle vodka?"

Aria laughed nervously. "Well, I guess you caught me", she responded, avoiding direct eye contact. She ran her fingers shakily through her thick mane and asked: "So, what do we have?"

"Well, Ali has been gone for almost a day now", Emily's voice appeared from the back of the hut. "I am pretty sure A has kidnapped her" she added with a worried voice.

Hanna lost interest as soon as Spencer began with her usual conspiracy theories. For some reason, she focused her eyes on Aria and noticed her OCD like behavior. When she wasn't constantly checking her phone's display, she was obsessively tucking a strand of hair behind her ear or drumming her fingers on her thighs. Hanna frowned. Something was obviously off about her, but what?

Emily remained silent after her last two sentences. Her mind was clouded with a gazillion thoughts and fears. It wasn't even for sure that Alison had been captured by A. Announcing her fake death and back-to-life return put her into the spotlight for every single person who ever had a reason to hate her. For all Emily know, there were a bunch of people who could potentially play with the thought of hurting her.

"… so, I'd say we go through her stuff and see if there's any lead to where she could be", Spencer finished her talk. She had poured herself another espresso and was now obviously full awake and in mystery-solving-mode.

The rest of them nodded approvingly, but to be honest, the only clues that were actually useful were the ones coming straight from the source of danger itself.

**ROSEWOOD POLICE DEP**_**A**_**RTMENT**

A few police offers, mostly in their late 20s or early 30s with a few 40+ exceptions took a seat in one of the dimly lit investigation rooms at the Rosewood Police Station. In front of the room stood Detective Gabriel Holbrook, one of the main investigators in the Alison DiLaurentis case. He was dressed in his usual formal attire – a sleek black tuxedo with a white button-down shirt neatly plugged into his trousers, and an accompanying iron blue tie. He nervously tapped his foot on the floor, waiting for everyone to take their respectful spot in the room. A minute of silence passed and everyone stared expectantly in his direction.

He cleared his throat and took a crayon in his hand. The scenario seemed absurdly a lot like a teacher and his class.

"As we know since yesterday, Alison DiLaurentis is still alive and vital. She had been missing for several years and reported to us that an anonymous person had tried to capture her and had tormented her friends and family with threatening text messages. From what we know, this lunatic is still on the loose. But the whole DiLaurentis case doesn't end here. About a week ago, the lifeless body of Jessica DiLaurentis, Alison DiLaurentis' biological mother, has been found in the exact same spot as her daughter had allegedly been found a few years back. So far, we haven't identified the body in Alison's grave. As I've recently been told by Alison DiLaurentis herself, her anonymous tormentor has also kidnapped her older brother, Jason DiLaurentis. We have photographic proof that this person has caused physiological damage to Mr. DiLaurentis." He stopped there and looked at his colleagues' faces. One of them had recorded everything and another one had scribbled down a few notes. The others were still interestingly fixating their looks on Holbrook.

"We have finally received Ms. DiLaurentis' autopsy report and according to the examiners, she died due to intracranial bleeding. From the wound on the back of her head, it can be derived that the weapon of crime was a hammer. It had taken the offender two hits until Ms. DiLaurentis succumbed to her injuries."

A couple of eyes, mostly the younger detectives', widened in shock.

"Our investigators didn't find any fingerprints on the victim's body. Whoever did this, knows how to do a dirty job with clean handwork. We can assume that the murder didn't happen in the heat of the moment." He quickly wrote down a few key words on the blackboard: hammer, 2 hits, planned crime.

One of the young detectives, a guy with curly blond hair and radiating blue eyes raised his hand.

"Yes?" Holbrook nodded in his direction.

"Are there _any_ suspects?"

Holbrook licked the insides of his lips. _Good question_, he thought. "We've been and are still interviewing people related in any way to the DiLaurentis family from relatives to casual acquaintances. So far, none of them stuck out. Most of them have a water-tight alibi".

"What about Alison's brother? I read in his file that he had a drug problem. People involved with drugs usually have a few enemies." A corpulent, bald guy with a way too tight uniform suggested.

"We do know that Mr. DiLaurentis had a history with drugs, but we still think that the person involved in these crimes has a different kind of agenda. From what he know, it seems like _revenge _might be an appropriate term. Beyond that Mr. DiLaurentis' current status is still missing and possibly dead."

**MELISS**_**A**_

Melissa paced back and forth from the entrance door to the kitchen counter, nervously tapping on the backside of her phone, impatiently waiting for whoever was on the other line.

Eventually the device made a cracking noise and a raspy, dark voice answered. Melissa stopped dead in her tracks and sucked in a deep, anxious breath.

"I just wanted to make sure everything has been set up?" She asked, biting on the nails of her right hand – a thing she usually did, when a situation made her feel uncomfortable. A muffled 'yes' came as a response. Melissa nodded slowly. Before she could add anything to the conversation, a click resounded and then a long, monotone beep signalizing that the other person had hung up.

The girl stood still for another minute, her mouth slightly ajar and her eyes glazed. Her life had been spiraling out of control ever since Alison had stepped foot into it. Their ménage à trois with Melissa's former boyfriend Ian Thomas had led to nothing but problems but then again Ian Thomas was a complete package of problems himself, and even without Ali's interference, these problems wouldn't have gone away that easily.

She closed her eyes and mentally wandered back to the one night that changed her life forever. The night Alison supposedly disappeared.

_**A**_**RIA**

Aria stumbled out of the lodge in the frosty air. A crow flew by with a loud croaking scream and landed next to a row of bushes nearby. Hanna, Emily and Spencer exited the hut right after her, shivering at the low temperatures. Caleb was the last, carefully closing the wooden door behind him. He put his hand protectively on Hanna's shoulder as they walked towards their parked cars.

Aria hadn't contributed much to their conversation. She'd mostly stared blankly across the room, her thoughts drifting off to things she actually wanted to avoid thinking about. The last few weeks had taken a heavy toll on her and it had only been the tip of the iceberg.

"Is everything okay with you? Did something happen to Ezra again?" Emily appeared next to her, her forehead wrinkled in concern.

Aria shook her head slowly. Just as she opened her mouth in attempt to say something, her cellphone chimed in her pocket. She shot Emily an apologetic look and stepped aside. As she looked at the display, a quizzical look crossed her face. She let the device ring for another few seconds, before she eventually answered, keeping her voice as low as possible. When she noticed Hanna starring at her with squinted eyes and thin lips like she could derivate Aria's thoughts from her awkward behavior, the raven haired girl turned away guiltily. "Wesley? What do you want?" She whispered into the phone. Wesley Fitzgerald's voice sounded tired and a little bit like he had a cold.

"It's Ezra", the younger boy said. Aria's eyes bulged out of her skull. An instant rush of adrenaline jolted through her body and her mouth let out a shaky "Yeah?", already in fear of what would come next.

"He was awake last night. The doctors said they had recorded an unusual high brain activity. He is still asleep now, but they said it's likely that he is going to wake up again in the next few hours."

Aria's heart skipped a beat. Her cellphone slid out of her hands and dropped on the muddy floor. "Aria? Are you there?" Wesley's raspy voice sounded from the speaker, but Aria didn't make any attempts to respond. Her surroundings blurred and a sudden dizziness overcame here. She felt such an immense rush of happiness as warm tears streamed down her cheeks.

A few astonished looks wandered in her direction. Caleb whispered something in his girlfriend's ear and she shrugged. Emily was the first to walk up to Aria and cautiously put one hand on her shoulder, eyeing the girl worriedly. "Is everything alright?"

Aria nodded slowly. "Yes. Now it is."

**LUC**_**A**_**S**

Lucas Gottesmen's eyes scanned every inch of the area. He licked his lips nervously and kept on scratching his temples – a thing he usually did, when he was getting impatient.

A well-known figure swam into view and he fixated him with her dark eyes. It was no one other than Mona Vanderwaal.

"Do you have what I want?" She asked with a demanding voice.

"Depends. Do you have the money?" Lucas countered, backing a few centimeters away from Mona. He felt somewhat uncomfortable in her presence. Her look went through him like daggers.

Her lips curled up in a devious smile and her eyes glistened mischievously as she reached into her pocket to pull out a bundle of bank notes.

Lucas eyes widened at the enormous amount of money. His hands were shaking as he reached out to take them from her, but before he could get a hold of his prize, Mona pulled it away. "Uh uh uh, first you."

The boy swallowed hard. He let a few beats pass until he reluctantly retrieved a bundle of papers from his leathern bag. "Here."

Mona practically ripped them out of his hands and eyed them skeptically as if she thought Lucas would give her faux information.

"Uh hu, okay. You've been a good boy, Lucas Gottesmen. And here's your reward." Finally she pressed the bundle of money in his sweaty hands. "We make a great team, you know?" She added, her eyes never departing from his face.

Lucas didn't answer. He just hold on to his money as tight as he could. The female shrugged, shot him one last freezing look and with that she paraded away.

**EZR**_**A**_

The stinging smell of ammoniac impregnated the air and every muscle in his body hurt as he tried to move. A needle was attached to his right arm and a transparent fluid ran from an IV bag straight into his body. His eyes hadn't yet adjusted to his surroundings and everything was still a little blurry, but it was getting better with every passing hour. The bullet hole in his abdomen was sewn with a thick, white thread and would soon only be an always remaining scar. It still hurt like hell when he bend forward with his upper body and it always felt like the stitches would rip whenever his body was exposed to too much strain.

He slowly closed his eye lids and let out a long breath. A few single pictures of the night he was shot went back into his memory system. A black hooded figure. The reverberating sound of the exploding missile. Screams. Tears. Aria.

Aria – his heart suddenly skipped a beat and his eyes searchingly went from right to left. Did she know that he was alive? Why wasn't she here? Did she even visit him?

He swallowed hard when he thought back to their very last conversation. From that moment on, all he wanted to do, was to make up for his disgraceful deed, but would she ever forgive him?

A soft knock on the glass doors almost made him jump. His sudden movements released a jolt of infernal pain and he fought hard to suppress a scream.

He narrowed his eyes to increase his visual acuity, but all he could perceive was a small and thin figure with dark, wavy hair cascading down her narrow shoulders. Behind here was someone else, a broad-shouldered silhouette with short hair.

"Ezra?" A female voice appeared. It sounded distant and muffled. The dark-haired woman headed towards his bed and as she approached he could perceive a few features of her face. The cute, little nose, the warm, brown eyes and those full and seductive lips he used to kiss so many times.

"Aria?" He managed to say, his voice husky and weak. He tried to lift his hand and softly touched her cheek. It was wetted from tears.

The other person stepped behind her and Ezra could detect the well-known features of his little brother.

Everything seemed so surreal, like a dream, but simultaneously he had never felt more alive than right at this very moment.

"I am so happy you're okay", Aria whispered in-between sobs of relieve. "I thought I had lost you". She took his hands and pressed so hard that the former English-teacher bit his lip in pain.

For a few minutes both of them didn't say anything to not ruin the moment. It felt like they were completely secluded from everything else, like they always used to feel back then when they were still together. Such a rare feeling of safety was a present one shouldn't give away too easily, both of them thought.

**SPENCER**

After their conversation at the lodge, the group slowly but surely separated as everyone had their own agenda. After a very emotional phone call from Wesley Fitzgerald who told that his older brother awoke from his coma, Aria had burst into tears and took off to see him ASAP. Emily had excused herself right after, claiming that she had to run some errands for her mother. The last to go were Caleb and Hanna.

The sun hid behind a gigantic cloud and the weather became a little more windy and frosty as time progressed. Spencer pulled her beige trench coat a little tighter and leaned into the form of her boyfriend Toby, who slurped next to her through the rustling foliage. A few minutes filed with silence passed as they just continued to walk next to each other, twigs cracking underneath their feet and birds chirping far off in the woods. Then an unexpected noise, coming straight from Spencer's pocket, destroyed the peaceful silence. Already dreading what was ahead, she pulled out her mobile phone.

The sender was – surprise, surprise – anonymous and the message consisted of two parts. One was an address to a highway at the upper end of the town and the other one said "be there at 6pm, or else your favorite blonde may never see the daylight again" And of course the message was signed with an infamous single letter.

_**A**_**LISON**

Somewhere in the midst of the city, in a dimly lit underground hideout, Alison DiLaurentis was frantically struggling to free herself from her bonds, but the ropes were pulled so tight, it only hurt whenever she moved an inch. She could already feel the burn of her worn down and reddened wrists. Her face was wetted with tears of fear and despair and her mouth felt dry from the gag A had put on her just a couple of hours ago. She had eventually stopped crying as it took away more oxygen than she had at her disposal. Instead she silently watched two black clothed figures from across the room hefting a large crate into the inside of a car. There were occasional whispers but not loud enough for her to identify any voices. One of the black figures positioned a crowbar at one of the edges of the crate and started cracking it open. With a loud, echoing noise the lid went off. Alison couldn't see what was inside, even if she craned her neck to the length of a giraffe's. Most parts of the room and its interior were shrouded in darkness which made it beyond impossible to see anything but silhouettes. Her limbs were still shaking due to the shock and her heart shot against her ribcage like a machine gun.

She could hear the sound of the trunk being opened, followed by footsteps in her direction. Her adrenaline levels were going through the roof and her eyes dilated in utter shock. She knew exactly what was about to happen in mere seconds and the worst thing was she also knew there was nothing she could do about it. Two hands shot at her from the darkness and roughly grabbed her shoulders. Another hand came from behind and the same stinging smell of chloroform from not so long ago filled her nostrils. Her frantic struggle subsided to only a few last weak movements until she eventually went completely numb. Her surroundings went from blurry to complete darkness and every yet so little noise faded away from her perimeter of hearing.

About a few minutes later, her eyes shot open. She was once again surrounded by blackness, but her senses were back to a 100 percent. She could hear the roaring of a car engine, loud and thundering like a raging animal. She tried to move but there wasn't enough space to sit or even stretch. Realizing that her gag had been removed, she took a deep and long breath and regretted it shortly afterwards. The air that surrounded her was sticky and dry and made her craving for oxygen even worse. She suppressed a cough and watched bits of dusts swivel in the smallest glint of light that seeped through a gap of the car trunk she was supposedly in. And then a dark, gnawing feeling settled inside her head. She was yet incapable of escaping her situation and this time she had no clue where her dreadful journey would lead her. But she had a guess that this time there might not be a return trip.

**SPENCER**

Right after Spencer received A's message, the clique gathered at the hospital to incorporate Ezra Fitz – who after all knew a lot about A – in their investigations, although he couldn't contribute as much, given his condition.

"How can we be sure this is not a trap?" Hanna asked worriedly, her hands entwined with Caleb's who wore an extra skeptical expression on his face today. His long, thick mane had gotten a little shorter since his return and his newly grown beard made him look a few years older than he actually was.

"We can't, but sitting here, hoping everything will turn out good in the end also isn't an option", Spencer responded, a single vein on her forehead pulsating like crazy. Her hands were slightly shaking, an obvious indicator that she had too much caffeine in the last few hours. Toby stood next to her, his lips a thin, impassive line and his eyes empty and dull, like he was somewhere else with his mind.

Emily was still off, doing god knows what for her mother and so far the girls hadn't managed to reach her. For some reason every call went straight to her mailbox, but Spencer reckoned that she had either shut her phone off to get some peace or her battery had died.

Aria sat on the edge of Ezra's bed, constantly checking her former boyfriend's vitals and caringly stroking his arm. A single tear escaped her eyes but she wiped it away as quickly as it appeared. "I agree with Hanna, we have to do something. Either that or…" She didn't dare finish the sentence, because every single person in this room knew very well how it would end.

Spencer was about to say something, as her cellphone chimed in her purse. "Oh god, no." She carefully pulled it out and opened up her inbox. In the process, her cellphone made another buzzing sound. "Oh, looks like I have two texts." She opened up the first one which was from Emily saying that she would head straight to the highway since she parked only a few blocks away at her mother's drycleaner to pick up some stuff. She quickly typed a reply with a meeting time and place for them and then scrolled down the menu for the second message. She wrinkled her forehead as she went on to read it and as a horrified look crossed her face, everyone else in the room went pale. Spencer opened her mouth and closed it again like a goldfish and then she finally stammered "We … we have to stop Emily." To everyone's understanding she showed the message to the round.

_Whatever you do, don't drive to the highway. It's a set up._

**EMILY**

Emily drummed her fingers on the steering wheel in annoyance. In front of her were at least 20 cars and instead of better the traffic jam got only worse. The sound of blaring honks and angry people filled the air and the girl felt an oncoming migraine attack throbbing in her head. She was so fixed on the streets in front of her that she didn't even notice the constant blinking of her phone which for some reason was turned on mute.

A few cars behind, a brunette with high cheek bones and hazel eyes with a look that could kill, had her phone pressed to her ears. "They're not here yet. Just one of them. I suggest, we wait", she said in the speaker in a low voice. On the seat next to her was another phone, an old model, obviously just in use for certain things. The display was lit and showed a new text message from an unknown number. _Who are you?_ it said, but the woman ignored it. She had done everything that was in her power and her precarious position wouldn't allow her to go beyond that.

In the line next to the woman was another car. On the driving seat was a black hooded person, face covered, black gloves holding the steering wheel. The figure nodded in her direction and she nodded back, an immense feeling of guilt nestling inside her brain.

_**A**_**LISON**

The air inside the car trunk had become so thin that it was hard to stay awake, but Alison's will to survive had increased so much during the last few years, that she wasn't going to give up even if her situation seemed more than hopeless. She breathed in and out as slowly as possible and felt her chest tighten with every passing second. And then, as if her momentary mental state had somehow given her super powers, she kicked against the hood of the car trunk. Nothing happened and she kicked again, this time with more force and as by a miracle, the hood sprung open and then everything went fast. She could hear the rhythmic bleeping of something and as she jumped out of the trunk and looked back one more time, she saw one of her tormentors desperately clinging to something that looked shockingly similar to a …

Only a millisecond after her realization, the figure stumbled out of the car, ready to go after her or run away, she couldn't tell at that moment as she was hectically sprinting through lines of waiting cars, ignoring the enraged yells of the drivers as she passed them. For the split of a second everything around her went mute. However the silence was soon replaced by a detonating noise, so loud that for a moment Alison was sure she had lost her sense of hearing. A thick cloud of smoke enveloped the area, pieces of metal and single tires flew through the air like they were toys. Dust filled her eyes and lungs and ravaging flames spread over the highway. Soon the air was filled with screams of fear and shock, accompanied by the crashing of cars who couldn't see a thing in the gigantic cloud of smoke. The blonde stumbled over the wreckage of at least a dozen of cars, her face covered in black filth and her eyes watery from the smoke. From the corner of her eye she could see lifeless bodies at the roadside, their limbs squashed by parts of the many destroyed cars. Breathing was becoming harder and harder and she desperately tried to escape the ever growing cloud. Everything had went so fast that she had difficulties fully processing it. However the only thing that mattered right now was how to get out of here as soon as possible, as her body became weaker with every step she took.

**EMILY**

Sirens bellowed through the air and one by one, at least 5 fire trucks swooshed by, followed by a dozen of police cars and ambulances. Hundreds of people were running in every possible direction, screaming for help. Paramedics were bowing down to people on the floor, checking for vital signs and the firemen were desperately trying to tame the roaring flames. Smoke still clouded the air like a thick wall of carbon dioxide.

And in the midst of the event, an injured Emily tried to escape her horror of a fate. She limped past a few blown up cars, desperately trying not to concentrate on the stinging pain in her left foot. It was probably broken, but the girl kept on walking. The smoke she had inhaled burned in her lungs and nostrils and there was a not so harmless, bloody wound on her head. She could literally feel her body giving up with every further step. Eventually she came to a halt and leaned against a car which roof had been blown off by the explosion. She coughed throughout at least a whole minute and struggled for air. Next to her, she could hear someone whimper in pain. Even though she was slightly addled by all the fumes she had inhaled, she brought herself to check for whoever was in her proximity, obviously crying for help.

She found another car or rather what was left of it and a dark figure sprawled over the hood of the it. Their face was stained with black filth and their hands were covered with black, leather gloves. Emily stepped a few inches closer and reached out to wipe the dirt of the person's face.

What she saw then, shocked her in so many ways that she stumbled back and almost hit the floor. She knew she couldn't get a panic attack right now because this would undoubtedly be her death sentence, but the rapid breathing and increase of heart rate came as naturally as always. She grabbed the left side of her chest and contorted her face as a stinging jolt of pain went through her thorax. The last thing she could perceive were a group of paramedics sprinting in her direction, equipped with bandages and other medical stuff. The picture of what she had just seen was still as vivid as it had been a few minutes ago, until everything went black and the sirens and screams vanished into the distance.

_**A**_**LISON**

Before the girls had arrived at the hospital, the explosion was already all over the news. Some channels were directly sending from the place of accident, showing pictures of destroyed cars, injured people and gigantic flames and smoke clouds.

They hurried inside the white halls of the hospital and found a very confused and anxious Alison, covered in dirt. They quickly hugged, feeling terribly relieved that she was still alive, but then fear arose again when Alison told them that she saw paramedics transport Emily's unconscious body into an OR. While she spoke, floods of tears streamed down her cheeks and she could hardly force the words out of her mouth. None of them could keep their tears back at this state and they huddled together on one of the benches near to the OR room in which Emily supposedly was, probably on the verge of death.

Hours of painful waiting passed and none of them moved a muscle. They were all staring at the closed metal door, wishing that one of the doctors would just step out with a relieved look on his face, announcing that they had successfully saved a life, but this moment seemed to never come.

Alison watched the sun go down through one of the small windows and it made her think. It made her think about a lot of things, she should've thought way earlier about. She bit down hard on her lip to prevent another flood of tears from coming. She knew she was as helpless as anyone else in this situation, but nevertheless she felt like she was the only one to blame. She brought this horror on herself, but also on her friends. Without her entering their lives a few years back, they could've lived an easy and supposedly happy life. Emily would be happily in love with some girl that treated her way better than Alison would ever be able to and most importantly, she wouldn't be lying on a silver table with severe injuries and a chance of never waking up again. And Hanna, she would've never been betrayed by her former best friend if Alison hadn't been the one setting them against her and awakening an inner psycho even Mona hadn't been aware of before. And Aria would've never met Ezra, the one whom she loved the most and the one who also hurt her the most. Her parents would still be together and the mistakes from their past wouldn't have mattered at all. Spencer would've stayed the top A student she always was and the elite universities would've been fighting over her. Instead she started abusing amphetamines in order to resolve the mystery revolving A and their agenda to kill Alison. She was the black cat in all of their lives, the broken mirror, the fatality that caused their lives to fall apart.

She took a deep breath and tried to calm her nerves. Even if all of this was somewhat true, she couldn't obsess about this, not right now. However, there was one thing she could do, something small but yet meaningful, something that would both change her own and someone else's life.

**SPENCER**

About an eternity later, a middle-aged doctor with turquoise scrubs exited the OR, his facial expression unreadable since he was still wearing his surgical mask. He pulled it off and began to speak, every single one of the girls listening attentively.

"Your friend is very lucky. Her injuries are not harmless but they are not severe enough to endanger her life. We fixed the major ones, but her leg will still take some time to heal, probably about 4 to 6 weeks. She will be wearing a cast until then and needs to rest. We've already contacted her parents, they are on their way."

"Can we go in?" they asked in unison.

"She's asleep now and she'll probably will be for the next 2 hours. Just try not to wake her up", he answered and stuffed the mask into his pockets. "If you need help or anything else, there's an emergency button right next to her bed."

With that he walked away. The girl sat there speechless, none of them daring to break the silence. After a few long beats passed, Alison was the first to speak. "Would it be okay if I go in first? Alone?"

The liars looked at her with mixed expressions. "Uhm, okay…" Spencer said, skeptically eyeing the blonde as if she had some kind of trick up her sleeve. The others nodded in agreement, although all of them not all too enthusiastic about Alison's proposition. After all, Emily was _their _friend, it was _them_ who had been here for her during all of the stuff that happened in the last few years. But then again, even if she wanted, Alison wouldn't have had much of an opportunity to look after any of them. They watched her slowly and hesitantly walk towards the metal door and slip into the room as silently as possible.

In the meantime, another surgeon, at least 10 years younger than Emily's, walked up to the girls. "Excuse me, is there a Ms. Hastings?" He asked with the slight hint of a southern accent.

"Yes, that's me. How can I help you?" Spencer inquired to know, a little bewildered.

"Uh, Ms. Hastings, I know this will be a lot to take now, but one of your relatives, Melissa Hastings, has been admitted to our special care unit. She's in surgery right now and as I've been informed, a flying car part caused her body severe damage. She suffers from internal bleeding and traumatic brain injury. We are trying our best, but there's a chance she might not … wake up."

Spencer starred at him like he had just tried to convince her that unicorns were real. "This … this can't be true. She wasn't… I mean, she wasn't even on the highway. She told my mother she'd be at her friend Jasmine's and…" Then it dawned on her how naïve she had been to believe that Melissa wasn't capable of making up a story just to be elsewhere. It's not like she hadn't done that before. However, it didn't matter right now. Spencer took a step back, trying to fully process everything. She took yoga fire breaths and stumbled a little backwards. Hanna and Aria quickly supported her body before she would fall back on the tiled floor.

"If you wish, there is a counselor for this kind of situations. I can arrange a meeting as soon as you need it", the surgeon suggested.

Spencer didn't answer. So many thoughts and emotions rained down on her, she couldn't settle on a single one.

"We can take care of her. We'll call if there's anything we need", Aria said to the doctor, gently rubbing Spencer's back. Hanna nodded in agreement. "She'll need some time to process this", she added.

The doctor shrugged and readjusted the pager on his scrubs. "Well, okay then. Gimme a call."

Spencer managed to take a seat and let out a huge breath she had been holding. She slowly closed her eyes, waiting for the tears to come, but there were none. Maybe that was because Spencer generally had problems with crying in public, but maybe that was because besides everything else, she realized something she should've known a long time ago…

**EMILY**

Alison carefully tiptoed to the left side of Emily's bed and took a seat on the rather uncomfortable plastic stool that stood next to it. There was an IV bag and a couple of devices attached to her body and her face and arms were covered with bruises and scratches. Nevertheless she looked peaceful. Her lips were slightly parted and her chest slowly rose with each breath she took. Alison couldn't help but smile at how sweet Emily looked, even in that kind of state.

She hesitantly reached for her hand and gently took it in her own, trying not to touch any of the bruises. The girl shifted a little in her bed and turned to face Alison. Her eyes were still closed and the blonde could now see some of the stitches in-between Emily's thick locks of black hair.

"I am so sorry", she said almost inaudibly, tears dotting her eyes. "I am so sorry, I didn't do anything to stop this." She let out a sob and wiped away some of the tears. Emily let out a silent moan and shifted once again. And again. Until…

"Al…Alison?" Her voice sounded weak and hoarse. "What happened? Where am I?" She tried to push herself up but Alison gently pushed her back. "Don't move. You're in the hospital. There was an accident, an explosion. You hurt your head and your foot." As if on cue, Emily grimaced in pain as she tried to move her leg. She blinked a few times and reached for her head to feel the stitches. A few pictures from the accident flashed back to her mind. Cars crashing. A lot of smoke. People lying on the floor, unconscious, or dead.

"You should rest", Alison said with a soft voice. She reached for a glass of water that sat on a nightstand next to the bed and handed it over to Emily. "And you need fluids."

Emily gratefully downed the glass in two sips. "Where are the others?" She asked and Alison would've lied if she had claimed that it didn't hurt just a little that her presence was obviously not enough. Not wanting their alone time to be over too soon, she decided to make something up. "They're on their way. I was at the scene of accident the same time you were. That's why I was already here before they were." She tried to smile, but it quickly faded when she noticed Emily's skeptical expression.

"Where were you anyway?" She eventually asked. "We were worried sick." Alison could detect a slight hint of aggressiveness in her voice.

"A kidnapped me. They … never mind, let's not make this about me. I am fine. I was so afraid that something would happen to you… If you … you know, I could've never forgiven myself." She clutched Emily's hand tightly, tears still uncontrollably streaming down her face.

Emily sucked in a deep breath. The whole accident was still nothing but a blurry memory and every single muscle in her body ached worse than it usually did after excessive training sessions for swimming contests. She looked at Alison, whose eyes were bright red from all the crying and who still had a bruises and dirt stains all over her arms and décolleté. Still she looked perfect as ever.

The blonde looked away for a few seconds, contemplating how to go on with the plan she had made up before, but it was easier said than done. "I know this may not be the right time. There's probably a lot on your mind right now and the last thing I want to do is to make your life even more complicated, but there is something I need to tell you…"

Emily looked at her with a puzzled expression. "Just…go ahead." She had no idea where Alison was going with all of this, but it made her insanely curious.

"Remember that day in the library?" Alison started. Emily tried to swallow the gigantic lump that slowly began to form in her throat. "You know, when we…"

"Yes, I know", Emily cut her off, feeling how her cheeks heated up at the mere mention of that day.

"… and when I said those kisses were only for practice? Well, they weren't." Emily tried to detect any hint of sarcasm in Ali's voice or facial expression. But there wasn't. She was dead serious.

She could feel her heartbeat quicken in an instant and she looked away both embarrassed and hurt. If what Alison just said is true, then why on earth did she have to put Emily through hell first before she could admit it? Yes, it was a complicated matter, but ruining a person's life just because you can't deal with your sexual orientation?

"I love you, Emily. I mean it. And I know I hurt you in the past, like no one else ever did. And I am so terribly sorry for that." More tears welled up, making it difficult for Alison to speak properly.

"I know I've been a horrible person, not only to you, but to tons of people. But doesn't everyone deserve some kind of second chance? To prove that they can change?"

Emily didn't answer. She stared blankly at the plain, white wall across the room, trying to contain her emotions.

She couldn't deny that there was still nothing but love for Alison in her heart, but she would be a major fool to accept her apologies right away and put herself at the risk of getting hurt again. And how could she be sure that whatever Alison said was true? There had been plenty of lies before and there were still a dozen of things that will probably remain a secret forever.

"Please…", Alison pleaded, but Emily didn't meet her eyes. She knew that once she'd look in that ocean of blue, she would easily drown in it again.

"I am sorry Alison. I can't." It hurt like hell to say it, but Emily knew she was making the right decision. Or was she?

"Okay", Alison almost whispered. "I understand it. You have every right to think that way. I know, I don't deserve you. But I wished, you'd give me one last chance to show you just how much things have changed me."

Silence filled the room once more again and for a few long moments they just stared into each other's eyes, fighting with every single emotion that seethed under the surface. Emily could literally feel the control slipping out of her hands when she looked into the blonde's sparkling eyes. All the feelings she had when she first saw her after everyone thought she was dead, went back in this very moment and it overwhelmed her in ways she couldn't even begin to describe. In the heat of the moment, she felt like she could do nothing else but bend forward and capture the girl's lips.

Alison was somewhat startled at first but when she felt the love and devotion in Emily's touches, she shut down all of her worries and closed her eyes in content.

Emily would've never believed this would one day really be more than just a fantasy. But here she was, lip-locking with her very first love, like it was always destined to happen. She could feel the tenderness in her kiss, but also the fear of rejection they both shared in this moment. Alison reached out to bury her hand in Emily's mane as the kiss got more passionate. She tentatively dipped her tongue in Emily's mouth, her body shivering in delight. Emily felt the urge to pinch herself, just to be a 100 per cent sure that this wasn't just a very vivid dream. She melted into Alison's hand which was now softly placed on her cheek. Even though her whole body still ached from her injuries, she couldn't bring herself to pull away. This may be wrong, but it felt too good stop.

**SPENCER**

When Spencer reached the special care unit, her parents were already awaiting her. Her mother was huddled up to her husband, a tissue pressed to her tear wetted face. Mr. Hastings looked as puzzled as he always did in such dramatic situations, unsure on how to feel or react. He had his arm protectively around his wife's shoulders and caringly stroke her arm.

"Mum, Dad…" Spencer said, her own eyes welling up with tears. Her parents welcomed her with a warming hug and for a few moments they remained like this, huddled together, silently crying over what might happen to Melissa.

"How's your friend?" Mrs. Hastings asked with a soft voice. "Did the surgery go well?"

"Yes, yes. She's doing fine. They doctor said she was lucky." _And Melissa wasn't_. "Anything new from…" She nodded into the direction of the OR.

Mrs. Hastings shook her head. "Not yet. They said the surgery was going to take another hour. Then we could just wait and hope that she's going to wake up."

Spencer closed her eyes and let the tears stream down her face. For so many years her sister and her had shared nothing but a cold and distant relationship, even as kids they used to quarrel over unimportant things like toys and who was a better ballet dancer. And as they grew up, their fights became even worse, mostly being about boys they both liked. It was usually Melissa who won them at the end, but as was the case with Ian and Wren, Spencer always had her fair share too. But in-between all those dirty fights, there were also moments in which Spencer felt grateful to have a bigger, much wiser sister, moments in which she felt protected by her. Thus it did hurt to have her on the verge of dying. However, her presence at the scene of accident implied that she was probably involved with A, one way or another. Sure she could've just been on the highway coincidentally, but given the fact that she lied about her whereabouts, it did seem to be more than suspicious.

Spencer didn't believe that Melissa was genuinely evil. There had to be a good explanation for her involvement. Sure she hated Alison's guts, but she knew her sister better than to believe that she'd be capable of ruining the blonde's and her friend's life.

There were so many questions on her mind right now and one of the only people who could have possible answers to them was inside this OR, fighting against death.

**EMILY**

After a heated make-out session, Emily and Alison had to break their kiss eventually as both of them were out of air. Emily's head spun like she had just downed a whole bottle of tequila. There was such an immense feeling of happiness that she wanted nothing more than to enjoy, but her worries were just as big. But then again, Alison looked just as scared as she did.

But there was something else on Emily's mind that kept turning up. She saw something at the scene of accident, something of great importance, but she couldn't recall what it was. Single scenes came back at her, but none of them was what she was looking for. In this second the door cracked open and Hanna and Aria went inside.

"Are we interrupting anything?" Hanna asked with a knowing smile on her face, having noticed the obvious tension in the room, and besides that, Alison's smudged lipstick.

"No…no, you can come in" Emily muttered quietly. She pulled the covers up to her chin as if to hide what she had done just a few minutes ago.

"How are you feeling?" Aria and Hanna asked almost simultaneously.

"I am … better. Look guys, I think there's something I've seen at the accident and it was kind of important, that's all I can remember."

The 3 other girls in the room looked at each other and then back at Emily in confusion. "Did it have something to do with who caused the explosion?" Hanna asked.

Emily wrinkled her forehead in thought. "I … I think so. I think I saw someone's face. They … they were hurt", she said, as the memory was slowly coming back to her. "I think it was a guy and I knew that guy but … that's all I can remember so far."

For a few seconds none of them said something, letting the words sink in slowly.

"So, this guy … was A?" Hanna finally asked.

"Well, he wore A's outfit. So, if he wasn't a bank robber or something, I'd say yes, it was A."

"Well…that brings us one step closer at least", Alison concluded. A few names came to mind, but could one of them really be big A?

"Hm, I always pictured A as a woman", Aria commented. "Maybe he was just a henchmen?"

Emily shrugged. "Could've been for all we know. A's obviously not working alone, so at this point I wouldn't preclude anything."

"Can I excuse myself for a second?" Alison asked out of the blue, nervously fiddling with the torn sleeve of her jacket.

The girls looked at her with skeptical expressions and Alison returned their gaze with as much self-control as she could muster up. Eventually they all nodded and Alison hurried out of the room, her head spinning with a gazillion thoughts. She headed straight to the bathroom, as a sickening feeling overcame her. In an instant, it was perfectly clear, who Emily had seen, but what was even worse was that she couldn't tell them. Not because she would want to protect this little piece of shit, but because there was much more to this story than anyone of them knew. She starred at her reflection in the mirror, eyes widened in shock, when her phone vibrated in her pocket.

A few rooms further, Emily's, Aria's and Hanna's phone did too. And also Spencer retrieved the device from her pocket as she was walking down to Emily's room to check her inbox.

And all 5 of them stared at the screen in pure fear.

"_You may have won this round, but the game is only over, when I say it is. Nighty-night, bitches._

_\- A_

_**A**_

A few doctors walked out of one of the special care unit rooms and headed towards another room, chatting about their latest case. When their voices became nothing more than distant whispers, a black clothed figure emerged from its hiding place. With as much care as possible, they pressed down the handle to the room and slipped in as silently as a ghost.


	11. unmAsked

**The Devil within**

**A Pretty Little Liars Fanfiction**

**Set after 4x24 "A is for Alive"**

* * *

**Title: **The Devil within

**Author: **Myself

**Co-Author: **-

**Fandom: **ABC Family's Pretty Little Liars

**Pairings: **Spoby, Emison, Haleb, Ezria, Tranna

**Spoilers: ** SE04 &amp; SE05

**Posting: **Romance/Drama/Mystery

**Rating: **MA

**A/N: **All characters of Pretty Little Liars belong to Sara Shepard and ABC Family ©

**Synopsis: **Alison's return to Rosewood inflicts each of the liar's life in an individual way. Whilst Emily has to deal with her undying love, Aria will go down a dark path and she's taking a few people with her. Hanna has to wriggle herself out of a love triangle and Spencer must do anything in her power to keep her family together after she finds a couple of skeletons in their closets.

* * *

_**There's so much going on in this chapter but I didn't feel like excluding anything, so yeah, you'll have to live with the fact that it's rather long.**_

_**Little note on the side…let's just pretend for the sake of this story, that Travis goes to Rosewood High (or went there, whichever you like better). **_

_**Q&amp;A**_

_**To: Andrew**_

_**Firstly, no, I don't plan on sending CeCe to jail anytime soon. Secondly, you'll find out in this chapter :) Thirdly, the thing Melissa is going to say has more to do with her than anyone else. No, I am not going to reveal Black Widow until the finale chapter (presumably chapter 20). It's not Emison, but that doesn't have to mean that there aren't some Emison moments in the upcoming chapters ;) **_

_**To: Jake**_

_**You'll find out very soon, but let's just say there are indeed some parts I am going to take from the TV series. She might be a twin, I am not going to exclude this possibility. Someone else killed her. **_

_**To: Mary**_

_**CeCe Drake is indeed one of the red coats. So far, we know there are two red coats. If one of them is black widow? Possibly. **_

_**To: Regina**_

_**Not my plan, yet. She'll return soon. And yes there'll be scenes between Alison and her.**_

* * *

**SPENCER**

_~ Flashback ~_

"Mel? Are you awake?" A 10 years - younger Spencer snuggled up to her older sister underneath the covers of the bedding. A lightning illuminated their room for the split of a second, followed by the roaring of thunder. Spencer shuddered and tightly held on to the fabric of her sister's pajamas.

"Yes", Melissa whispered, her own heart thudding against her chest, but she tried to stay cool.

"I am scared", Spencer whined, her face contorted with fear. A door was shut hard somewhere inside the house and the girl let out a shriek. Melissa protectively put her arms around her little sister and pulled her closer. "Shhh, it's going to be fine."

Muffled voices could be heard from down stairs. Shouting. Crying. The breaking of glass.

A single tear rolled down Spencer's cheek and Melissa looked as pale as death. Her lips were trembling and she struggled hard to maintain her cool and controlled demeanor.

"Mel?" Spencer shyly looked up to her sister, noticing her tensed facial muscles and her stony look. Melissa met her gaze. "What?"

"Please promise me, you'll always be here for me?" Spencer almost pleaded, her eyes watery and filled with fear.

A few long beats passed and silence filled the room. Melissa bit down hard on her lower lip. Another door was shut downstairs and her father's angry voice echoed through the halls.

"I promise", she eventually whispered and once again pulled the little girl closer to her.

_~ Flashback End ~_

* * *

Spencer blankly stared at as her sister's chest slowly rose in synch with the bleeping of the ECG device. A respiratory mask covered her face and her body was littered with scars and hematomas. Her right eye was swollen and the skin around it was almost black from all the bruising. According to the doctor she had suffered from severe internal bleeding and a cerebral contusion which might or might not result in long-term psychological damage.

Spencer's parents stood behind her, their facial expressions full of worry and fear. Her father silently took his wife's hands and gave her a gentle squeeze. Mrs. Hastings sniffed and put a hand on her younger daughter's shoulder. Even though in the light of the recent events it was hard to feel anything but emptiness, Spencer couldn't but savor this rare moment of affection within her family. After everything that went down with her father's affair, A, all the deaths and now the accident, it was nice to know that there was someone on your side, even though you believed you had lost them a long time ago.

They spent a little while inside Melissa's room, none of them daring to break the peaceful silence, the only sound being the devices the young woman was attached to, and her rhythmic breathing.

"We should go now", Mr. Hastings said with an unusually soft voice. He took his wife's hand and led her away from Melissa. Spencer gave them a warm and affectionate hug and asked if she could stay for a few more minutes. Both of them nodded without a word and left.

The girl sat back down next to Melissa's bed and yawned. She hadn't slept in the last 48 hours and was slowly but surely succumbing to her tiredness. When she leaned back, she noticed something lying on the tiled floor. It looked like … a piece of paper. Spencer knitted her eyebrows in skepticism and bowed down to examine her finding more closely. It was neatly folded and definitely not placed there coincidentally. Spencer glanced at her sister as if she could magically awake from her coma and catch her in the act. She unfolded the paper and read through the typed lines of text.

"_That bitch got in our way for the last time. Whenever you read this, get back to me as ASAP."_

Logically there were was no name or initials at the end of the letter. Whoever put it there expected someone besides Melissa to read it, Spencer assumed. I mean the girl was in a coma, it wasn't like she would miraculously wake up just to read a note someone had slipped her. It seemed way to set-up.

Spencer crumbled up the paper in her hands and gritted her teeth. So, Melissa _was _involved with A. Not that there had ever been any doubts. Spencer just somehow hoped that maybe, just maybe, she was wrong. It was hard to decipher her feelings at the moment. On one hand, she was extremely mad at her sister for having deceived her all this time and for god knows what else she did under A's wings, but on the other hand she had that little spark of hope inside of her that whatever Melissa did, she had her reasons for it – reasons that maybe none of them would be able to comprehend, but reasons that would at least prove that she wasn't just some psychopathic, ice-cold bitch. She wanted to believe her words, when Melissa claimed she was doing all those things in order to protect her younger sister. Heck, she even believed her when she said she came back from London to be here for her sister. Spencer felt somewhat foolish and naïve and it made her even angrier. But then again, Melissa was possibly on the verge of dying and that alone was reason enough to not despise her right now her like she probably should.

Spencer let out an audible sigh, when something in her pockets bleeped. She pulled out her phone, feeling the familiar nausea she got whenever she expected a text from A. To her relief it was just an invitation to the annual Rosewood High masquerade ball.

**EMILY**

Emily hadn't once been able to close her eyes throughout the whole night. Asides the fact that she saw A, the person who had been torturing her and her friends for years now, but forgot who it was, there was plenty of other stuff on her mind that kept her from drifting off to dreamland.

She and Alison hadn't yet addressed their unexpected kiss at the hospital. The blonde had remained rather calm the rest of the other night. The only thing she did was to ask Emily if she could stay over at hers for the night, since she didn't want to be alone after all that went down with A. Neither did she want to be with her father since she still owed him some sort of explanation. Emily had agreed, even though with some reluctance. The tension between them was undeniable and Emily needed a few Alison-free days to figure things out for herself. Their kiss at the hospital had been somewhat surprising and Emily still couldn't tell whether there were real feelings behind it or whether Alison was just desperately clinging to someone who could give her the protection and safety she needed at the moment.

She glanced at the blonde next to her, who was still fast asleep. A few strands of her blonde mane had fallen in front of her eyes and Emily could smell the bloomy scent of her A&amp;F perfume. She looked so innocent and yet she could be the devil itself, if under the right pressures.

As much as Emily wanted to give in to her overwhelming feelings, she was too scared. The scene of how Alison had rejected her a few years back kept on reappearing in her head and even though there could be explanations for her behavior back then, Emily couldn't convince herself enough to let go of her fears.

Alison let out a groan and rolled over to the other girl's side. Her eyes were still closed, but she had moved a few inches closer to Emily. The other girl could feel the heat radiating from the blonde's body, the smell of her perfume was so penetrant by now that Emily couldn't stop herself from thinking back to the kiss.

And then, as if the blonde had sensed something, she slowly opened her eyes and blinked at Emily who noticed a little too late that she was still starring at the other girl.

"Morning, early bird", Alison rasped with a sleepy voice.

"Uh, I couldn't sleep, and…" She was cut off by Alison's lips moving dangerously close to hers.

"No, Ali, I can't. Not now. Not before we haven't talked this out." She shifted a few safe inches away from the other girl. She couldn't quite classify the look on her face, but it looked like a mixture of sad and angry.

"Yes…yes, maybe we should talk first." Alison sat upright and gazed at Emily, the hint of a smile on her face. It baffled Emily that even after everything that had happened she was still able to show some sort of happiness. And even more irrational – the reason behind this happiness might be her.

"Well, then … let's start." Emily took a deep breath and forced herself to look at Alison without melting away internally. To be honest, she couldn't really tell where she'd like to start.

Alison raised a questioning eyebrow. "Yeah? I am listening."

"Well, that kiss … what exactly … does it make us?" Emily said.

Alison shrugged nonchalantly and drew invisible circles on the fabric of Emily's bedding. "Whatever you want us to be", she finally said.

Emily frowned. Just a couple of hours ago Alison was frozen and rigid, like the realization of what had happened had finally hit her, and now she acted like all of it hadn't even affected her.

She shot Emily a flirtatious glance, her cerulean eyes sparkling more than ever.

"You hurt me. More than anyone else ever did. If I will try to trust you again, it's going to need some time. A lot of time, actually", Emily explained herself.

Alison nodded understandingly. "I get that." She paused for a few seconds, staring at some spot at the end of Emily's room. "But _this_ is worth the wait."

Emily's heart uncontrollably warmed up and her facial muscles almost automatically pulled up into a smile.

"You need to be downright honest with me. I can't be with someone who I can't trust. Simple as that, Alison." Emily said, her smile vanishing as quickly as it had appeared.

Alison looked at her for a very long moment. An awkward silence filled the room and Emily swallowed hard, her eyes not once drifting away from the girl. She could feel her heart bumping faster and faster with every passing, silent second. It seemed like Alison was in a mental battle with herself. Emily knew very well that there were still a lot of things Alison was keeping to herself and having this thought at the back of her mind while the two of them would be together would slowly but surely make her the same emotional wreckage she used to be. And she couldn't go down that road again, not now, not ever again.

"I know", Alison said silently. The passionate sparkling in her eyes was gone and she looked almost afraid.

"So, I'd say for now, we're not going to rush things. There's A and … everything and I can only take so much emotional turmoil", Emily explained.

Alison simply nodded. She briefly gazed out of the window, then looked back at Emily. "Would you mind if I leave now? My father called yesterday because I didn't come home. We haven't really had a chance to talk yet and after all that happened, I think it would do us both some good."

Emily furrowed her brows. "Yeah … understandable, after all that happened with … you know."

"Yes, I still can't imagine how he must've felt when they had found her." Alison shook her head disbelievingly.

Emily awkwardly looked away. Alison hardly ever talked about her mother's death and when she did, it was hard to find the right words to comfort her.

"I understand. You should really go see him."

"Thanks, Em." She quickly pecked the other girl on the cheek, got up and went straight to the bathroom to get dressed. Emily remained on her bed for a while. She just wished she could shut off her brain for once and escape all those troubling thoughts.

The blurry picture of a black clothed figure flashed in front of her inner eye and it made her angry, mostly at herself for not having been able to save the person's face to her memory system, but also at so many other people. In fact, she was felt with so much angriness at this moment that she felt the urge to punch something but instead she burst into tears and collapsed onto her bed. She didn't even know she was holding back so many emotions until now. She covered her mouth with her hands so that Alison who was just one, not really soundproof door away, couldn't hear her. She figured the lack of sleep was also contributing to the mental stress she had been subjected to in the last few days, or months _or years_. She had tried to be the strong one in order to give Alison the feeling of safety she so desperately needed, but there was only so much strength she could give and her resources were obviously used up.

She jumped a little, when her phone chimed next to her on her nightstand. _Please don't let it be…_ She clicked on the little envelope on her display with shaking hands and sighed in relief when she discovered that it was only an invitation to the annual Rosewood High masquerade ball.

**H**_**A**_**NNA**

Hanna's hand went up and down her boyfriend's muscular abdomen, while she hungrily went for his lips. Caleb was pulling her closer to his half-naked body, her bare skin on his sending shivers up and down his spine. They were pressed against the wall in the Marin's living room and hadn't yet parted their lips. Hanna inhaled the manly, bitter smell of her boyfriend's cologne that had a slightly woodsy note to it and melted in his strong but protective grip. He planted a few kisses along her jawline and teasingly glided his tongue down her neck which elicited a pleasured moan from the girl. "Don't stop", Hanna breathed, completely surrendering to his touch. His hands roughly wandered over her body, exploring all the areas he hadn't had the opportunity to touch in a long while and continued to trail kiss down her neck to her collar bones. Hanna buried her nails deep in the skin of his muscular back and pressed her body even closer to his, even though they were already tightly pressed together. "My bed. Now", she whispered into his ears. Caleb didn't hesitate for a second and lifted his girlfriend to carry her up the stairs. However, in that second something caught their attention. Someone was knocking on the door.

Caleb turned away from the blonde and softly put her down. They stayed silent for a few seconds, trying to come up with ideas of who could be the surprising visitor, since Hanna's mother told her she wouldn't be back until late in the night and right now it was 4 in the afternoon.

"Hanna? Are you home?" A muffled voice called, followed by another knock on the door.

Caleb ducked when he saw someone peeking inside the living room through the little window next to the door.

"Damn it Hanna, _who _is that_?"_ He asked a little angrily.

"I don't know", Hanna hissed back, covering her bare chest with a blanket she had found on the couch. "Go to my room. I'll answer the door", she ordered and went to the bathroom to get dressed.

As soon as she was presentable again, she tiptoed to the door. Before she opened it she peeked out of the same window the person had used to catch a glimpse of what was going on inside the house. Her eyes widened in shock when she saw who exactly was standing outside, equipped with a large bouquet of roses.

"Oh no, please don't do this to me now", she spoke to herself. She took one last deep breath and turned the knob.

"Hey … sorry to come here so … unannounced, but you know, after everything that has happened, I thought you might need something that would cheer you up." He gave her the flowers. "Here, I bought these on my way here. I kind of didn't want to come without something to give you."

"Travis, I …", Hanna started, but when she saw the hopeful expression in his eyes, she couldn't but feel sorry for him. "…come in."

She stepped aside to grant the boy entrance and Travis hesitantly walked inside.

He sniffed at the air and furrowed his brows. "Did you have company before I came?" He asked, a skeptical look on his face.

"I, uh…no, the postman had just been here and god, you wouldn't believe how much cologne he had on. He smelled like he had showered himself with the whole bottle", she lied.

"Oh, uh…okay." Travis smiled nervously. "So, I, uhm … I was wondering… are you going to the ball tonight?"

Hanna looked confusedly at him. "What ball?"

"Didn't you get the invitation? Everyone from Rosewood High got one, even the graduates", Travis said like it should've been perfectly clear. "Didn't you check your phone?"

Hanna glimpsed at her phone that had been silently lying there on the coffee table throughout her whole make out session with Caleb. _Sure she hadn't checked, she had been busy with something else_.

She picked it up and scrolled through her messages. _Huh, there it was. Invitation to the annual Rosewood High masquerade ball._

Was she going? She knew the ball always was around that time of the month, but after all the recent events, she sort of lost track of time. She hadn't even yet discussed the possibility of going there with the others, but it did tempt her in some way. Her boyfriend, with a sexy mask, in a suit…

"I don't know, maybe", she answered, a naughty smirk on her face which she was obviously not aware of.

"Any chances you'd go there with me?" Travis asked out of the blue, looking at her with puppy dog eyes.

Hanna immediately snapped out of her dirty daydreaming and looked at him with a bewildered expression. "Uhm, what?"

"Nothing… forget I asked." He looked away, obviously hurt.

"Travis,…we talked about this", Hanna said softly. "You are a wonderful person, but …" She threw her hands in the air helplessly. "Caleb and I … I mean, it's hard to explain. We've never really stopped loving each other."

Travis nodded slowly. "Right. I forgot. You already had a dance partner. Sorry, I asked", he said, obviously frustrated.

Hanna let out an exasperated sigh. "Please Travis, don't make this harder than it has to be."

"Yeah, for you it's easy. You weren't the one who got their heart broken. I am the idiot here. You have someone to go to. And that's that", he said with a strong and accusing tone. Then he quickly rose from his seat, one more time opened his mouth to say something but let it be and stormed out of the house, smashing the door behind him.

"Wow, someone's on their period", Caleb said from the upper end of the stairs, still shirtless.

"Stop it", Hanna said, walking towards the kitchen island. She stood up on tiptoes and reached for an empty bowl from one of the cabinets. "He is hurt and I understand that. I dated him for quite a while and as soon as you came back I dropped him like a hot potato._ You_ would be hurt too", she added while pouring some skimmed milk into the bowl.

Caleb shrugged and marched into the kitchen to get himself a cooled beer out of the fridge.

"Don't we have any cereals left?" Hanna complained, examining the inside of the cabinet.

Caleb plopped down on the couch and opened the bottle with a lighter. The lid flew across the room and landed near the kitchen island.

"You might want to throw that away", Hanna said with a cool voice, still on the haunt for some cereal. Eventually she gave up, poured herself a quick espresso and joined her boyfriend on the couch.

A few long minutes filled with silence passed until Caleb was the one to speak first. "I am sorry. I guess Travis is a good guy and it is his right to be pissed", he apologized. Hanna looked down on the cup in her hands. After a while she said: "It's okay. Let's just hope he'll come to terms with it and … leave us alone."

Caleb smiled and planted a soft kiss on his girlfriend's head. Then he put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her to his chest. "Now about that ball he was talking about…"

**SYDNEY**

Sydney Driscoll was slowly climbing down a slope, carefully grabbing every twig she could reach along the way. The heels of her shoes bore through the earthy ground and mosquitos swirled in front of her face. When she reached the end of the slope, she was at a forest glade, only big enough to make place for two benches on which two very well-known people were already waiting for her.

"You are late", a girl with big Gucci sunglasses said. She had her lips pressed together to a thin line. Something about her made Sydney's hair stand on end, but she tried to cover her fear with a confident smile.

"I am sorry. My mother was making me do the laundry and it took a little longer than expected", she apologized.

"Sure", another girl with bronze skin and thin, black hair said with an accusing undertone. Whenever Sydney looked into her eyes, she felt her insides turn to stone. It was like looking at a basilisk in human form.

"So, why exactly did you call us over here, Jenna?" The basilisk turned to her friend.

Jenna straightened herself and took a deep breath, then she spoke: "It's about Shana. She's messing up the whole plan. She wants to go after her and …" She didn't dare to finish the sentence.

"What?" Basilisk exclaimed, her anger obvious in her tone. "That bitch should get herself under control, we can't afford to pull a stunt like that."

Jenna clenched the silver cane in her hand. A muscle in her face twitched and one could tell that she didn't like the way basilisk was talking about this Shana girl.

Sydney watched the conversation with curiosity. So far, she hadn't quite figured out her exact role in this plan or game or whatever it was. She just knew that a rather large group of people wanted Alison DiLaurentis, that bitch that returned from the dead, gone. Sydney didn't know much about Alison, just that she once used to be the Queen Bee at Rosewood High and that she had manipulated and humiliated a lot of innocent people, including her friend Paige who used to be close to suicide because of that blonde she-devil. Also, she had been the reason why Jenna Cavanaugh even had to wear those glasses. Basilisk – her real name was actually Mona Vanderwaal – had ordered her to participate in her grand plan to get rid of Alison after Jenna had introduced Sydney to her. After some hesistance, Sydney had agreed, mostly because she wanted to revenge Paige and Jenna, and because after all Alison allegedly did, she sure as hell deserved to be banned from Rosewood.

"She says it's the only way to get rid of_ her_, once and for all", Jenna tried to explain through clenched teeth.

"Huh, you think. She doesn't want to see her dead, she wants to torture her just like Alison tortured everyone else. It's not that easy, Jenna. You need to talk to Shana, she must come to her senses or otherwise…"

Jenna didn't respond. She had obviously acknowledged that whatever Mona knew was probably true.

Sydney hadn't yet been told who_ she_ was. The girl just knew that that this mysterious person was the one ultimately pulling all the strings. She was the infamous A everyone was so afraid of.

"Where is she now, anyway?" Mona asked, her eyes glued on Jenna. It was quite hard to read the girl's face without seeing her eyes.

"That's the problem, I don't know. She wasn't at the costume shop when I visited her and she wasn't home either. After her last call, she also refuses to pick up her phone", Jenna said, running her fingers shakily through her long, thick hair.

"Is she going to the ball?" Sydney asked all of the sudden, trying to kill some of the tension between the two. "I mean, everyone is going", she added when the girls simply starred at her, like she had just said something unbelievably inadequate.

Mona licked the insides of her lips, her eyes narrowed. After a few seconds of thinking, she changed the topic.

"Have you had success with Emily so far?" She directed her gaze to Sydney.

Sydney thought about the unexpected kiss between her and the Canadian girl. Sure, she intended to win her trust by pretending to have some kind of interest in her, but she never would've forecasted things to get out of control so soon. Maybe Emily was still trying to get over her break up with Paige or whatever. At least at the moment it seemed as if she'd need some time to think things through before she'd surprise her with another smooch.

"Well, for one she took the bait of me having … that kind of interest in her. And I do think I can get her to spill the beans on Alison. It'll just take some time until she will fully trust me", Sydney reported proudly. She never mentioned anything about the kiss to Jenna or Mona, mostly because she didn't want them to think that she was losing track of her actual agenda, but also because there was something else inside of her, she couldn't quite define, that kept popping up whenever she thought back to that moment.

"Good girl", Mona praised. "You're making an excellent spy, Mrs. France. We might keep you for a little longer. And don't think you will get the privilege to decide whether that is what you want or not. Once you're in, there's no way out, honey, unless I say so." There was a wicked grin on Mona's face and she was staring at her with a look that could kill.

"Uhm…" Sydney couldn't really get out a sentence. "Sure", she eventually agreed with a scared smile.

Jenna's phone vibrated on the rough surface of the wooden bench. Before she could even try to look for it, Mona snatched it away from her and opened the menu. "Oh, look who has decided to get in touch again."

"I'll kill that bitch tonight even if it's the last thing I'll do", Mona read out aloud. "Hm, I guess it's time you tame that little girlfriend of yours, my dear Jenna." she said with a demanding voice.

"I … uh… should probably go now", Sydney announced, once again feeling uncomfortable as the tension between the two began to rise with every passing second.

"Whatever", Mona simply dismissed her with a disinterested wave of her hand, her eyes still fixated on the girl with the Gucci glasses.

_**A**_**LISON**

Once she was out of the house, away from Emily, every worry she had tried so hard to suppress, poured down on her like acid rain.

Alison thought back to the moment she had in the hospital, after their discussion about what Emily had seen after the explosion. Why did she even think it was him? Did he have a clear enough motive? Sure she had some kind of troubled past with him, but was that reason enough for him to go after her_ and_ her friends. And how could he possibly know about _that _secret? The pieces didn't quite fit together.

But what if it was him? She couldn't say a word without revealing her own guiltiness. She wasn't necessarily a victim in this wicked game, for a lot of reasons, and if they would ever found out that she had slept with the enemy, none of them would forgive her, not even Emily.

Alison absentmindedly walked along the sidewalk, her thoughts shifting to yet another secret she had been holding, the one why she took off from Emily's so suddenly, with the excuse to meet with her father, which – surprise- she wasn't going to do.

She quickly pulled out her cellphone and dialed Noel Kahn's number. Then she covered her head with the hood of her jacket and buried her free hand deep into her pockets. A long beep resounded until the young male finally answered.

"What do you want?" He asked in a rather unfriendly tone.

"We need to talk. Now", Alison demanded.

Noel didn't answer right away. There was a rustling noise, then two muffled voices, until he returned to his call.

"Stop by at my apartment. But just so you know, I've got company." With that he hung up, not giving Alison a chance to reply to his last sentence.

Alison angrily stuffed her mobile phone in her beige Chanel leather bag and let out a heavy sigh.

Working with Noel was everything but easy, especially when she thought about what kind of despicable things he had done. Sure he had only been taking an order, but that didn't – and will never – justify his actions. It bordered on a miracle that Alison was still capable of looking at him. But whenever she did, she saw the inner conflict reflecting in his eyes. He had to be the bad guy, he was raised to be one and family traditions couldn't be broken so easily.

* * *

The Kahn's mansion was ostentatious and beautiful in its own, old-fashioned, classic way. It extended over a surface twice as big as their school's lacrosse field and housed the whole Kahn family from the two Kahn siblings to their parents and grandparents. Alison announced herself at the intercom and entered through the large, iron gates. The Kahn's lawn was perfectly well trimmed and to Alison's right was an enormous swimming pool with impeccably clear water. On the left side was the garage in which Mr. Kahn kept his expensive collection of old cars. Alison climbed up the stairs to the front gate and slipped inside.

Noel Kahn's room was on the second floor at the end of a very long hallway that was decorated with black and white portraits of the family and their ancestors. Before she knocked, she carefully leaned against the mahogany wooden door and listened to the muffled voices behind. She almost tumbled over when someone ripped the door open.

"Uh, sorry", a guy with tousled, dark brown hair and warm, brown eyes stood in front of her, a puzzled look on his face. "Did you want to come in?" He asked.

Alison peeked inside and found Noel sitting on his kingsize bed, a bottle of beer in his hand. Hip-hop music boomed from his stereo and his abnormally big flat screen showed a paused ego shooter. There was a half-eaten box of pizza sitting on the floor, next to an empty six-pack of beer.

"Uh, was I interrupting something?" Alison asked, looking from Noel to the guy standing in the door frame, then back to Noel.

"No, told you I had company. Holden, you remember Alison, right?" Noel turned down the volume of the music. "She was a regular at my and my brother's legendary parties. And a regular at my hot tube." There was a sleazy grin on his face and Alison shot him a deadly look.

"Oh yeah, I think I remember you. You were with that other girl … what was her name again?" Holden asked, scratching the back of his head. The sleeve of his arm slid down a little and revealed part of a tattoo.

"You should go now", Noel said sharply, directing his look at Holden.

"S…sure. Well, it was nice to meet you again, Alison. See ya around." With that he closed the door behind him and took off.

"So, is he part of your little, perverted club?" Alison asked coldly, taking a seat on Noel's office chair.

"He is one of the newer members", Noel said, showing off his perfectly white teeth when he grinned. "So, what do you want?"

"I am starting to feel like your secret is too much of a pressure on me", she said upfront, her heartbeat quickening.

Noel's face immediately turned to stone. "What are you implying?" He asked with a strong voice but with a hint of fear.

"I don't feel like carrying around something as big as this anymore. I've got enough secrets already, I don't need yours too", Alison added, moving a few safe inches away from the male.

"So what? You think you can tell anyone about this?" Noel asked with an enraged voice.

Alison didn't answer. Tears dotted her eyes, but she didn't break eye contact with the guy, making sure that she had made up her mind.

"Oh, I get it. It's Emily, isn't it? You want to prove to her that you're oh so trustworthy. I don't think I even need to point that out to you, Ali, but your little plan has got some serious flaws", Noel said bitterly.

"I am sorry, I forgot you didn't know the last thing about honesty", Alison countered. "What you and your brother did was wrong on so many levels. I wonder how you can live with this kind of guilt, but then again, it isn't as if you'd have a heart or anything like that."

"Oh, please. You? Talking about honesty? Believe me when I say this. She's going to find out you're only lying to save your own ass. They all will. Your secrets will always haunt you, Alison DiLaurentis. Mine is just the tip of the iceberg." He took a sip from the bottle in his hand. "So, I'd suggest you better enjoy your sweet, pretended life, while you still can or I swear I'll make sure it becomes the hell you deserve to be in. You're not the only one who can spill a secret." He paused, his nostrils flaring and his eyes wild and crazy. "And now get out of here." He pointed to the door of his room, the muscles around his mouth twitching.

Alison's face was wetted with tears, but eventually she complied, realizing that she had no other option.

_**A**_**RIA**

Ezra was slowly but surely recovering. There was still an enormous scar on his abdomen, but otherwise his condition had significantly improved.

Aria couldn't help but giggle when he tried to put a spoon full of what looked like baby cereal in his mouth and spilled some of it on his hospital gown.

"Toughest diet I've ever been through", the former English teacher jokingly said, wiping off the mashed substance with his fingertips.

"You'll get through it", Aria answered with a smile. It was so overwhelmingly nice to see him get back to normal. The girl forced herself to not think back to the times where things looked different.

"I could feed you, you know?" She suggested with a raised eyebrow.

Ezra shook his head vigorously. "Nooo, no, I insist on keeping my last bit of pride."

They both laughed until Ezra let out a pained groan. Aria's facial expression immediately turned worried.

"Is everything alright? Do you want me to get some help? Should I call a nurse?" The words flooded out of her mouth as she protectively put a hand on her ex-lovers shoulder and she could've denied it all she wanted, but in this split of a second that felt a lot longer than it actually was, they were having some sort of a moment. He looked at her with his (almost) innocent, big brown eyes and she returned his gaze, her mouth slightly ajar. It was similar to those moments they used to have back then when they were still dating. Moments in which time would come to a halt and everything around them didn't matter. Cheesy as it sounded, Aria never found a better way to explain the emotions that surged through her body whenever he looked at her like that.

Realizing that they were way too close, Aria backed off quickly, almost knocking over one of the medical devices next to Ezra's bed.

The man let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding. "No, it's okay. I am good", he almost whispered. He rubbed the stubbles on his chin with a puzzled look on his face.

Aria nodded slowly and took a seat next to his bed. She stared at him for a few long seconds, thinking about everything that had happened before they ended up right where they were right now. How she had found out about his mysterious spare activities and how he had manipulated her in order to write his infamous crime novel. Even though, she always tried to concentrate on the good memories whenever she looked at him, it was hard to put the bad ones in a box and store them somewhere at the back of her mind, especially since they were the most recent ones she had of him and her. However, when she was holding on to his almost lifeless bodies on that rooftop in New York, not a single one of those bad memories had mattered. Aria automatically thought back to the message A had sent her not so long ago. She lied and did horrible things purely out of selfishness and judging him for his deeds in the light of the latest events would be more than hypocritical. She was just as guilty as he was. But did that make them bad people? After all the good things they had done in life? What if …

"Are you okay?" Ezra snapped her out of her thoughts. He had a worried, caring look on his face. There was still a little rest from his "meal" at the corner of his mouth and Aria reached out to wipe it away. She retracted her arm quickly and cleared her throat audibly. "Uh, I was just thinking about something. Sorry."

Ezra opened his mouth to say something but eventually decided against it.

Aria sighed and fixated some point across the room. "Since you're an expert on this field… what do you do with all the guilt after you've done something … objectionable?" She asked with a monotone voice.

Ezra furrowed his brows. "Uhm…" Aria looked at him expectantly.

"Well, I try to tell myself that it's … human. Which doesn't make it any less awful in the end. I mean, you still feel … terrible and that will never go away that easily, especially if you affected other people with your selfish behavior. But you know, in the course of doing, it might help to think of it as the dark side every person has, no matter how hard they try to deny it."

Aria swallowed hard. At some point he was right, but then again it didn't really contribute to making her feel any better.

"Is there … something you want to talk about?" he tried, the curiosity in his voice unmistakable.

Aria considered letting him in on her secret, but in the end decided it was for the better if he didn't know.

"No,…not really. Anyways, you know, I am doubting that you'll have an answer to this question, but is there any chance that you remember who was under that mask in the night you were shot?"

Aria hadn't yet got the chance to ask the one question they were all dying to get an answer to. Even though they believed the chances were slim of Ezra actually remembering who tried to kill them on the rooftop that night, it didn't hurt to try.

"Huh… I was wondering when you'd finally come out with this question", he answered. "You're right though, I can't get myself to remember who it was. There's a name at the back of my head that keeps popping up whenever I think back to that night but I am not sure whether it really connects with what I saw."

"Well, tell me. Whatever it is, it might help us."

Ezra leaned over, grimacing when a jolt of burning pain went through his abdomen and whispered something in Aria's ear. In response, Aria's eyes widened and she gaped at him like he had just told her that Nessie was real and living in his bathtub.

For a couple of minutes she was unable to say something when the little cogs in her head started spinning. It didn't make a great deal of sense, but there was usually more to the story than just a name, so maybe Ezra's subconscious had indeed tipped him off with the right information.

"But what … what should I do now? What if that is really who A is and they are trying to attack once more? I am just … tired of being in such a helpless position", she explained. She could feel the goose bumps on her arms when she thought about how often they had been in the same room with A without knowing that it was them. The room suddenly felt 10 degrees colder and Aria pulled her leather jacket tighter around her shoulders.

"There is something … at my apartment. My father once gave it to me and I kept it for emergencies. I'll give you my kees and the information you need in order to find it, alright? Do not - and I want you to engrave that to you memory- use it except if there's absolutely nothing else you can do. When you find it, call me. I'll give you the instructions on how to use it. And never show it to anyone or tell them you got it from me. Are we clear?" He looked at her with a serious look.

Aria's heart smashed against her ribs. She had a good guess on what she'd find in his apartment and it made her reconsider everything she had ever thought about him even more.

"I … I think I'll leave now. Th..Thank you for… just thank you." She got up quickly and hurried out of the room, leaving a bewildered Ezra behind.

When she exited the hospital, warm wind greeted her and the smell of pine trees filled her nostrils. She briskly walked towards her car that was parked a few spaces away from the building when her phone chimed in her pocket. Her heart dropped into her gut. The device kept on bleeping until she finally pulled it out of her jeans. One new text message. _No, no,…_

She let out a huge sigh of relief when she identified it as an invitation to the annual Rosewood High masquerade ball. _Huh, like she hadn't worn enough masks_ _already._

**THE GIRLS**

In the early evening the group gathered at Ezra's hut for a recap of the latest events. The first to arrive were Spencer and Toby, who were still hardly talking to each other. The boy silently sat down on the couch whilst Spencer marched into the kitchen to prepare coffee for all of them. The next to come were Hanna and Caleb. Hanna had a playful smirk on her lips and her boyfriend had his arm swung protectively around her shoulders. The last were Emily and Alison who kept an obvious distance to each other but occasionally glanced into the other person's direction. Aria had excused herself for this "meeting" because she was still at the hospital, visiting Ezra.

"So, what's this about?" Hanna started the conversation and opened a Coke light can that stood on the coffee table. It went open with a loud "zzzz" and she took a gulp. The carbonic acid left a delightful prickling on her tongue and she savored the deliciously sweet taste of the beverage. Caleb had supplied himself with yet another bottle of beer and plopped down on the couch next to her.

"Well, I guess we all received the same text message today. About the ball. And I was wondering if it would be a good idea to go. You know, after all that has happened…" Spencer explained, casually sipping on her double espresso. She tried not do wander back to the moment in which the doctors told her about Melissa's condition.

Toby chewed on his lower lip and avoided looking into anyone's direction. Coming here already took him a lot, but going to a stupid ball, pretending like the things he had seen never even happened … he wasn't sure whether he could pull that off or not. He never told Spencer about the video and even though he wanted to, he forced himself to keep his mouth shut. The girl already had a lot on her plate and she didn't need to be troubled with his problems _too_.

Emily shot Alison a worried glance. The girl hadn't really gone back to school since her dramatic return to Rosewood and appearing at a ball, like everything was back to normal, would be sort of strange, she assumed.

The only one showing some kind of enthusiasm about the event was Hanna. "Why not?" She said and shot a demanding look at her boyfriend. "Yes, sure, why not", Caleb added with a fake smile.

"I don't think it's a good idea. People are going to talk when they see Ali", Emily reminded.

Alison wrinkled her forehead and then said: "Well, they're going to talk nevertheless. Whether we come or don't. They all know I am back, so…"

"True. And who knows, maybe … maybe, a nice evening will take our minds off A, at least for a while", Hanna tried to convince them.

"I don't get how you can even consider something like that after all that has happened. A freaking blew up a highway. People died. Some people are still on the verge of dying. And you are thinking about dressing up and putting on a mask, like nothing ever happened?" Emily said outraged, looking at Hanna in sheer disbelieve.

The blonde put up her hands in defense. "Jeeze, relax. It was just a suggestion. I mean, there are people buried up and down the streets of Rosewood and A had been tormenting us for years. We can't keep on hiding in our rooms and hope that one day, maybe, we'll be able to go back and live a normal life again. Either we face our fears or we keep running away from them."

Emily opened her mouth to say something, but she was obviously at a loss for words. Hanna did have a point. However, she still thought it was sort of careless to drag Alison to a high school convention where a lot of people who still hated her guts were all gathered at one place, just waiting for her to show herself so that they could spit their venom at her.

"Hanna's right. If we show A that their plan to scare us away is working, they'll keep tormenting us anyway", Spencer said. She searched for her boyfriend's face to see if he was okay with it, but when she met his eyes, he turned away with a stony expression.

An uncomfortable silence filled the room. Alison looked out of the window like she was somewhere completely else mentally and Emily fixated the floor boards with a still worried look. Caleb looked around, noting the tension between all of them, and quietly sipped on his beer, while his girlfriend was playing with a loose thread from her leggings, a sour expression on her face. Spencer stared at them in expectance of another contribution to this conversation, her already empty cup sitting in front of her on the kitchen counter. Toby stood up, mumbled some sort of apology and went to the bathroom.

"So, what? Do we go now, or not?" Hanna inquired to know, directing her attention back to the conversation.

Spencer shrugged and looked at Emily and Alison. Alison softly took Emily's hand and shot her a look that read 'I'll be fine. Don't worry'. The brunette took a deep breath, but then reluctantly accepted the idea. They both looked at Spencer and nodded.

"Okay, then … I'll text Aria and let her know and we meet at let's say … 9pm at your house, Hanna?"

They had met at Hanna's at 9pm sharp to get ready. Spencer decided on a black, floor length and strapless dress with a black rose on the right side of her chest and a simple black mask with two feathers. Emily had draped herself in a knee-length, violet dress with invisible straps and put on a similar looking mask in white, sans feathers. Hanna had gone with a short, sanguine piece combined with a golden mask with a line of Swarovski crystals on the nose bridge. Aria told them she'd be a little late because she was stuck in traffic and Alison was still in the bathroom, getting ready. After about half an hour, she finally showed herself.

Emily's jaw dropped to the floor when she looked at the blonde, covered in a piece of dark-blue silk, her long, blonde hair cascading down on her narrow shoulders and her heart shaped lips painted in a seductive red. The others nodded approvingly, all of them admittedly jealous of their friend's beautiful appearance. She smiled, knowingly aware of their admiring stares and covered her face with a mask the same color as her dress, only with a golden frame.

When they reached the warehouse where the ball was held, a large crowd of drunk and masked teenagers was already bustling inside. Chit-chat resounded through the entire building and loud, bassy music blared from two gigantic speakers at the end of the hall. Some of the people were gathered at a large table on which an enormous bowl of punch was placed, next to a few plates with several kinds of delicious looking sandwiches. The rest of them was drunkenly moving to the rhythm of the music.

"Can we ask for this dance?" A tall guy with dark hair, a dark-grey tuxedo and a white Phantom of the Opera mask asked, his hands occupied with two glasses of red punch. Next to him stood another boy with a messy, blonde haircut, a pin-striped tux and a hockey mask from Friday the 13th. Spencer's and Hanna's face immediately lit up as they recognized them as their boyfriends Caleb and Toby. Caleb wrapped his arms around his girlfriend and gave her a passionate kiss. Toby shyly walked up to his woman, lifted his mask briefly and quickly pecked her on the lips. Emily watched them, silently hoping that she'd one day be able to display her love for Alison like this. And that the girl would do the same. But right now, this fantasy was still far away from happening. There were so many things she had to figure out before she'd be able to fully commit to this relationship and beyond that, going through this right now while A was still on the loose, ready to strike at any given moment, seemed a tad too much to bear. Alison noticed Emily's gaze and just for a fleeting moment she gave her a faint smile.

They strolled to the dance floor and slowly but surely started moving in synch with the music. Toby had his hands placed on Spencer's hips and awkwardly moved around, not really comfortable with this kind of activity as it seemed. Caleb was swirling his girlfriend over the dance floor like a professional, occasionally bumping against other people which he obviously didn't mind. Emily slowly swayed her lips as a rather slow song was played. She couldn't resist glancing at Alison, taking in every little detail of her well-proportioned body and her perfect, glowing skin. It was almost as if she could smell the intoxicating scent of her perfume again, like she was leaned against her lips again and …

Someone rammed their elbows in her hips whilst pushing themselves through the thick crowd of people. When Emily looked a little closer, she could see that this someone was no one other than Sydney Driscoll and to her surprise, she brought something with her. Emily remembered having seen the tall blonde guy with the shimmery blue eyes on Jenna's side once, but she didn't know much about his identity. She looked back at her friends and noticed Toby nudging Caleb and nodding into the guy's direction. Did they know him? Emily narrowed her eyes and looked back at Sydney and her pretty souvenir. Since when was Sydney dating someone anyway? At some point Emily lost sight of the girl and turned back to the rest of the group, but the picture still remained on her mind. Something seemed … strange about it.

_**A**_**RIA**

Aria nervously turned the key and went through the door into Ezra's apartment. Inside it smelled like books and blown out candles, one of the many things Aria liked so much about this place. She tried to remember the instructions Ezra had told her on the phone and headed towards an antique looking cupboard. _Second drawer, on the left._ She took the knob in her hand and slowly opened it. Then she pulled out a pile of laundry and uncovered a small, black box which she carefully lifted out of the drawer.

She took a long, shaky breath and put off the lid. She couldn't say she was shocked about her finding, since she had already had some sort of assumption before she came here, but nevertheless, the thought of Ezra owning such a thing, made her feel a little uneasy. The spy equipment was one thing, but this …

Aria quickly unboxed it and put one of Ezra's old, worn-out Hollis t-shirts around it. Then she stuffed it to the other things in her bag and put the laundry back in the drawer.

When she exited the flat and closed the door behind her, she wasn't so sure whether she really felt safer now. She didn't dare think about the possibility of having to use this someday.

**EMILY**

Spencer and Toby had excused themselves because they wanted to discuss something in private, which was probably just some lame excuse to vanish into one of the toilet stalls and make out. Caleb and Hanna had drifted off somewhere into the midst of the dancing crowd and the only thing Emily could see was Hanna's blonde hair swaying with every wild dance move she made.

She was alone with Alison. The blonde moved a little closer to the brunette, the strobe light illuminating her face and revealing her hypnotizing blue eyes. Emily bit down hard on her lip, Alison's slim figure coming closer and closer.

"I'll get us some drinks", she blurted out before the blonde was so close that Emily wouldn't have been able to take it anymore. She quickly vanished into the crowd of people and pushed herself against moving bodies, getting hit by elbows every now and then until she reached the table with the punch. She poured herself a glass, than another and lastly a third one. She shuddered when the bitter taste of alcohol hit the tip of her tongue. Luckily the sweet strawberry flavor of the punch made up for it. She quickly poured another two glasses and carefully navigated herself through the crowd back to Alison who looked a little lost, all alone on the dance floor. People were staring at her from all kinds of directions. After all, she was still the infamous girl who returned from the death. Two boys whispered something in each other's ears and a dirty smirk crossed their faces.

Emily stepped next to Alison who tried to avoid the curious gazes as good as possible. "Here", she handed her the glass and downed her own. The effect of the alcohol was slowly but surely starting to kick in and her vision turned a little blurry.

"You okay?" Alison asked, obviously noticing that the brunette had a little much to drink. She softly took Emily's hand and the girl flinched in surprise.

Alison frowned, obviously confused. She knew they had somehow agreed on taking things slow but thinking back to her conversation with Noel, she wanted to enjoy said things while she still had the chance to.

**SPENCER**

"Toby, I can tell something is happening to you right now", Spencer said, fixating her boyfriend with a serious look.

"Can we just … let this go?" Toby asked, throwing his hands up in the air in frustration.

"No, we can't. 'Cause we are supposed to talk about our problems, instead of hiding them because as we have learned countless times now; secrets don't make your life better", Spencer responded angrily.

Toby gave her a long and intense stare, his blue eyes gleamed in the darkness of the night. A gust of wind blew through Spencer's hair and a nearby car started its engine with a loud growl. The gigantic trees that lined the sidewalk casted eerie shadows on the asphalt and the moon glowed majestically on the dark night sky.

"It's about my mother", the boy eventually said, his voice barely audible. "A sent me a video."

Spencer's insides turned to stone. She already sort of knew the answer, nevertheless she asked with a now remarkably more silent voice: "What kind of video?"

Toby took a huge, shaky breath. "Someone pushed her out of the window", he said, tears dotting his eyes. "Some crazy bastard f*cking killed her." He covered his face with his hands, the realization washing over him once more.

Spencer stood there like frozen in place, somewhat uncertain on what she could possibly do to make him feel better. Truth was, there wasn't anything she _could _do. Everything he had hoped wasn't true was delivered to him via video message. She took a few hesitant steps closer and carefully pulled the sobbing boy in a hug. She wanted to say _"everything is going to be alright",_ but she didn't even believe that herself.

_**A**_**LISON**

Spencer and Toby hadn't yet reappeared and they had somehow completely lost sight of Caleb and Hanna in the crowd that grew thicker and thicker as people were streaming into the grand hall with every passing second. Emily was silently sipping on her drink, not daring to look into Alison's direction. The blonde could tell she was struggling between doing the thing she_ should_ do, and the thing she _wanted_ to do.

_She's going to find out you're only lying to save your own ass. They all will. Your secrets will always haunt you, Alison DiLaurentis._ Noel's words, even though they were only coming from Noel, had felt like daggers boring straight through Alison's heart, mostly because he was right. _You better enjoy your sweet, pretended life, while you still can. _

A single tear streamed down her face but she wiped it away vigorously. Some kind of switch in her head went off as she marched into Emily's direction. "Can we talk?" She asked loudly, trying to drown out the music.

Emily looked unsure not to say afraid. "S…sure." They took off to the bathroom which was surprisingly empty given the large number of people attending the ball. Alison inspected herself in the mirror. Her makeup was still unblemished and her blue eyes gleamed, but if one looked just a little bit closer, they would be able to see the insecurity and fear in her face.

"So, what exactly do we need to talk about?" Emily asked, crossing her arms over her chest in some kind of self-protecting manner. Her bronzy skin was glowing in the bright light of the bathroom lamps.

"There are things…in my life right now, that I cannot talk about for my own and also for all of your safety. And believe me, I want to tell you, I want to be free of these secrets once and for all, but I just…can't." Her voice cracked a little, but she took a deep breath and continued. "I just want you to know that I _am_ trying to give you the honesty, you need and deserve, but there's only so much I can do."

Emily nodded. There was mixture of understanding and doubt on her face and Alison couldn't tell which feeling was prevalent.

"I followed you today. I don't know_ what_ you did, but you most definitely didn't meet you father. Emily said with an accusing tone. "Might care to tell me where you went?"

"Wha…" Alison's heartbeat rose and her muscles tensed. How hadn't she noticed that Emily had been following her? She took a deep, shaking breath, considering her options. At last, she said: "I was at Noel's."

"Why?" Emily demanded to know, her eyes shooting daggers at the blonde.

"I can't tell you.", Alison explained, her look pleading for mercy.

"What's your deal with Noel Kahn? I mean, seriously, _what_ do you have on him that is so big that he agreed to help you without a lot of hesitance. And don't tell me you can't tell, 'cause I am getting sick and tired of hearing that excuse." Emily said, anger blazing in her eyes.

Alison could slowly but surely feel how the control she once had over the girl slipped out of her hands. She wasn't that perfect fantasy Emily once had of her. She was the girl that brought chaos with her, with every step she took. And secrets, tons of secrets. Alison got why Emily was so hesitant to trust her, but it hurt to have the only person, she cared more about than herself, slowly turn against her.

"There are things that you don't even _want _to know of. If I would've had the chance to choose, I wouldn't be standing here, trying to explain myself." Alison's whole body shook uncontrollably while she spoke.

Emily just looked away with a hurtful expression, obviously not buying it.

"Don't you get it, Em? YOU are the only reason I came back to this broken disaster of a town. How do I make this clear to you?" the blonde cried.

Emily swallowed hard and looked away, her own eyes watery. "You just lied to me a few hours ago. Why should I trust you now? I …"

She was cut off by Alison's mouth forcefully pressing against hers, suppressing her every try to protest. Alison roughly pushed her against the wall and kissed harder, her hands finding their way to the brunette's waist. She was so sick of arguing, sick of having to prove other people that she was trustworthy. All she wanted was to have one god damn reason for feeling happy again. And if words didn't help, then maybe she'd have to try it in another way.

Emily was in a mental struggle with herself. She wanted to shove Alison away, show her that she couldn't erase her doubts with a simple gesture. But for some reason, she was incapable of doing anything but surrendering to the blonde's touch, her own hands wandering to the girl's back. She could taste the saltiness of tears from both of them on her lips. Alison kept pressing her against the cold bathroom walls in a desperate attempt to maintain control.

At some point they had to pull away from each other, gasping for air. Emily looked at Alison for a few seconds, her inner struggle instantly hitting its peak. She knew, she had to do the right thing in order to keep herself from getting hurt again, even though this wasn't any less painful.

"This doesn't fix anything", she eventually said with a cold voice, stepping away from the blonde and exiting the bathroom without looking back once, for her own good. Alison could feel a jolting pain shooting through her chest, like her heart was literally cracking at the sight of Emily leaving.

**THE GIRLS**

The crowd became thinner and thinner as the hours ticked by. The girls and her companions met at a spot near the entrance. Aria had eventually arrived about an hour ago, but hadn't really seemed to enjoy any single moment of the ball. None of them seemed to have, except for Hanna maybe. She was tipsily leaning against her boyfriend and muttering something about a couple from their school which Caleb didn't seem to be particularly interested in. Aria hold on to her bag like she was carrying around a treasure, afraid anyone would snatch it away from her. Toby stood there, a worn out look on his face and slightly reddened eyes. Spencer stood next to him, tightly squeezing his hands, her complexion even paler than usual. Emily was somewhere completely else with her mind and Alison … where was Alison? Spencer frowned and looked at the empty spot at which their friend had stood just a couple of minutes ago. "Anyone seen Ali?" she asked. Silence.

In the same second, all of their phones chimed in their pockets and an uncomfortable feeling washed over them as they shot each other a frightened look.

"_Once upon a time there was a little liar who went astray. Here's a hint, her name starts with A. Kisses"_

Emily read out aloud, then squinted at the picture attached to the message. It felt like someone had just gave her a kick in the guts. She looked at the others in disbelieve, than at Aria, who silently stood there, her eyes glued to her own phone's display.

"_You should've known I wasn't good at keeping secrets. Thanks for the help, though. Much appreciated. Kisses"_

"You didn't, did you…", Spencer spoke under her breath, incredulously looking at her best friend.

"I can explain it, I swear", Aria said, nervously putting a strand of hair behind her ear. A nauseating feeling overcame her, when the realness of the situation slowly but surely dawned on her. "Please…"

"Tell me, when did you plan to let us in on your extracurricular activities?" Spencer asked in a sharp tone. Hanna stood behind her, her arms crossed over her chest, a mixture of hurt and disappointment on her face. Caleb was still at her side, like a bodyguard, his arm not leaving her shoulders. Emily avoided Aria's pleading look and starred at some point in the distance.

"I … " Aria began. Her lips were moving, but no sound came out.

"Were you the one who kidnapped Alison and brought her to that … that maniac?" Emily all of the sudden snapped, a vein pulsating on her forehead. Her eyes were ripped open and her stare burned holes through Aria's body.

"I never had an idea that it would get out of control so soon. I was ordered to follow Alison and the only thing I did was tell A were she went… I swear by my life that is everything I did."

"Didn't Alison say someone was numbing her with chloroform and didn't I see a transparent liquid falling out of your bag they day of the accident?" Hanna remembered, skeptically looking at the raven-haired girl.

"I stole a bottle from A's lair. It's still closed, you can check. I kept it in case A decided to play unfair like they always do", Aria explained with quivering lips.

"And what exactly did you get in exchange? A ninth life ?" Spencer asked sarcastically.

"They promised to not hurt Ezra."

"And you believed them? A has lied before, Aria, and you are very well aware of that", Spencer countered.

"I know what they are capable of! And they tried to kill him twice, I wasn't going to risk his life a third time", Aria defender herself.

"So you just turned Ali's life in to save his?" Emily asked, her eyes widened in fury.

Aria opened her mouth to say something, but closed it again, realizing that nothing would really make up for what she did.

"I can't believe you", Spencer said quietly. "But as much as I'd _love_ to continue this conversation now, we have to find Alison. And she's hopefully still breathing, when we do."

"We could ask around. I mean people know Ali, so maybe someone has seen her go away…", Emily suggested. Spencer and Hanna nodded and they group separated to ask practically everyone in their proximity.

**SYDNEY**

"Mona, can I talk to you for a sec?" Sydney approached the girl from behind and cautiously tipped on her shoulders.

Mona turned around, a cold look on her face, as per usual. She was holding on to her current boy toy Mike Montgomery, who had a sleazy smirk on his face. Jenna stood next to her, in a floor-length magenta colored dress and her Gucci glasses. The blonde haired young man with steel blue eyes to her right nervously wrung his hands and looked away as if he wanted to keep himself out of all this drama.

Mona shooed Mike away like he was a clingy puppy and turned to Sydney. "What is it?" She hissed, obviously annoyed.

"I just saw Shana, she was at the back of the building, but she's gone now. And by the looks of it, she's still quite determined to make her prophecy a reality."

"You had one job…" Mona said. "Go. Find her, do whatever you have to but keep her away from Alison", she ordered with a strong tone. Then she turned back to the others with an obvious fake smile as if nothing had ever happened.

**_A_LISON**

"I said I am not available tonight. I'll call you back later", Alison whispered into her phone and winced when a sudden noise caught her attention. It sounded almost as if someone was walking in her direction, but it was probably just some drunken kid from the ball, she tried to tell herself. However, her body automatically switched on its alarm systems. Wait, was that a shadow? Alison blinked hard, but there was nothing to see. She hugged herself and started to walk back into the direction of where their group had stood before. The night was eerily silent, almost too silent.

"Hey", someone shouted from across the street. Alison quickly turned around to see a darkly dressed figure, standing there motionless, their head covered with a hood.

The first few seconds the blonde was too shocked to move, but then she sprinted off in the opposite direction. She ran and ran, cars whizzing by to her right. A couple of lanterns spread a dimly light over the shadowy streets, bright enough to spot the most important details of one's surroundings. Alison's heart hammered against her chest as pure adrenaline coursed through her veins.

At some point, she stopped, desperately fighting for air. She looked back and forth, no one seemed to be in her proximity, until a voice resounded behind her.

"You can't run away forever, you know.", a well-known voice said and Alison was instantly paralyzed. With one last deep breath, she turned around to face the person she once thought she could trust.

Her former childhood friend Shana Fringe stood in the midst of the street, pointing the barrel of a gun at her. It was so surreal, Alison had to pinch herself to double-check if it wasn't just a very vivid nightmare. Nothing made sense anymore. Why would Shana have a reason to turn against her?"

"_Why_ are you doing this?" Alison asked with a clueless expression.

"Don't act like you don't know", Shana snarled. "You were the one who brought her in our lives. You are responsible for this mess."

Alison creased her brows. "Who are you talking about?"

"Spare me the innocent act. Tell me, was it her idea or yours to almost drown Jenna? I mean, haven't you done enough damage already?"

"I…" Alison was at a loss for words. Not only had she no clue who Shana was talking about – someone had obviously supplied her with the wrong information, but she was also afraid that she wouldn't hesitate to pull the trigger if Alison said something wrong.

"Okay, Shana,… I know someone might've tried to convince you of the opposite but I never planned to hurt Jenna. Not now and not then. You have to believe me that", she tried to say as calmly as possible.

"Oh yeah, like that isn't one of your thousand lies again. I am done with this. You are the origin of all this insanity. And if you're gone, so is all of this chaos. Don't you see it? Every dead body in this city, every earth-shattering secret and every broken soul – they all connect to you. You may have changed, Alison, but there are things that can't be undone."

Still in the same second as Shana finished her sentence, the rest of the girls sans Aria appeared, accompanied by Toby and Caleb.

"Shana?" Emily exclaimed in shock, identifying the black girl underneath the hood as one of her swimming fellows.

Even though they were momentarily grappling with the idea of Shana possibly being their longstanding tormentor, they hadn't much time to think about it, when they realized the weapon in her hands, now pointed at all of them.

Emily shot Alison a frightened look, instantly regretting leaving her at the bathroom, all to herself, without protection. Then she swayed her eyes back on Shana, noting her angrily contorted face and her rigid posture. She looked more than ready to end this scenario at any given moment. Then a thought materialized in her head: _What did Alison do to Shana that made her end up like this?_ As far as she could remember, they used to be childhood friends so she had known Alison longer than any of them did.

A sudden noise caught everyone's attention, even Shana's and she turned away from the group for the split of a second.

"Put down the gun", a well-known voice demanded, their own hands occupied with what looked like a Magnum 44. Spencer knew, because around the time she was 10, her father had had a special interest in firearms and occasionally dragged her to conventions. To everyone's surprise, it was Aria, her fingers shakily resting on the trigger.

Everything happened quite fast, almost too fast to fully realize it. Shana diverted the gun to point it at Aria, but before she could do anything, the missile was already boring through her chest. She screamed and stumbled to the side, pressing the palms of her hand on the spot the bullet had hit. Blood gushed out of the wound and the girl fell to her knees with heavy pants.

Aria slowly put the gun down, tears streaming down her face. Before anyone was even able to move and stop her, she disappeared into the darkness of the night.

Shana was still lying on the floor, breathing stertorously, her body becoming weaker and weaker with every passing second.

None of them moved an inch. They watched with horrified looks as the life slowly seeped out of the girl when she eventually collapsed to the ground, her head hitting the asphalt hard.

_**A**_

There was an abandoned desk standing in the midst of a dark room. There was only a single light bulb illuminating the surface of the furniture. On top of it were a few, blurry photographs and a white postcard with golden and red Christmas ornaments. Someone stepped closer, opened the card to write something in it then put it in an envelope together with the photographs.


	12. the tAles of a criminal

**The Devil within**

**A Pretty Little Liars Fanfiction**

**Set after 4x24 "A is for Alive"**

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**Title: **The Devil within

**Author: **Myself

**Co-Author: **-

**Fandom: **ABC Family's Pretty Little Liars

**Pairings: **Spoby, Emison, Haleb, Ezria, Tranna

**Spoilers: ** SE04 &amp; SE05

**Posting: **Romance/Drama/Mystery

**Rating: **MA

**A/N: **All characters of Pretty Little Liars belong to Sara Shepard and ABC Family ©

**Synopsis: **Alison's return to Rosewood inflicts each of the liar's life in an individual way. Whilst Emily has to deal with her undying love, Aria will go down a dark path and she's taking a few people with her. Hanna has to wriggle herself out of a love triangle and Spencer must do anything in her power to keep her family together after she finds a couple of skeletons in their closets.

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_**Q&amp;A**_

_**Red Coat killed Jessica?**_** Based on the material found at the scene of crime (which happened to be a piece of fabric) this seems to be likely. However, you will learn everything about Jessica DiLaurentis' murder in this chapter. It may confuse you, but there'll be a logical and more detailed explanation in the finale.**

**_Why is A on the run?_ A's identity will be revealed in the finale of my Season 5 version, but they sure as hell will try everything in their power to escape the police as long as possible ;) **

**_Does B.Y stand for Bethany Young or something else?_ You will probably know the answer to this question after reading the following chapter.  
**

**_Will their be a Christmas chapter if so will red coat appear?_ Yes, there will be a Christmas chapter! (you can find the title in my latest update) They're always around somehow, aren't they?  
**

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**I know it's been a while and I am sorry this chapter took me so long, but I hope you like the final result. I am especially proud of the good connection between the title and the chapter itself.**

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_**A**_**LISON**

_~ Flashback ~_

The _Cape Mayflower_ swayed ever so slightly on the gentle waves of the ocean. Seagulls mewed incessantly in the distance and a salty breeze scented the air. The sun glowed brightly on a clear sky and the water sparkled invitingly. Alison DiLaurentis stood silently on the deck, her golden hair twirling in the wind. A look of worry crossed her face and her usually so gleaming blue eyes were dull and vapid. A figure sneaked up to her, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder and the blonde let out a shriek of surprise.

"Are you thinking about him?" The person behind her, a tall, blonde-haired female with a stunning resemblance to Alison, asked.

Alison folded her arms over her chest, her eyes darting to the floor, obviously not comfortable with the topic. "No. He's not worth it", she muttered quietly.

"You know, there's always a good reason for people doing what they do", the blonde stated matter-of-factly. "We may not understand these reasons at all times, but that doesn't mean they're not justifiable."

Alison sighed audibly. When she and CeCe Drake had planned to go on a spontaneous trip to Cape May, together with Spencer's anal and stuck-up sister Melissa Hastings and one of CeCe's college buds, Darren Wilden, who had just joined the police force, Alison would've never expected things to get out of control so soon.

_A couple of nights ago… _

One of CeCe's former friends was hosting a Hawaiian-themed party at one of the many beach bars and it didn't take her very long to convince Alison to accompany her. Melissa decided to stay at her cabin, for unknown reasons and Wilden was busy with his newly found holiday fling, a broad-bosomed and incredibly hyperactive Jamaican. The blonde duo threw themselves in the most Hawaiian-looking outfit they could put together and took off.

When they arrived at the party, people were already shaking to the pulsing music blaring from the speakers. A bunch of girls, dressed in miniskirts and coconut bras, were gathered at a nearby table, encouraging the smallest of them to down a whole glass of what looked like pure rum. The place was decorated with flower garlands and inflatable palm trees and barely clothed bar maids sashayed through the cheerful crowd, carrying plates with exotic cocktails and tastily looking nibbles.

After downing a couple of pineapple shots, CeCe and Alison went for the outdoor dance-floor, professionally swaying their bodies to the up-tempo rhythm of the music, immediately drawing the attention of a group of boys to them. But none of them was in any way what Alison was looking for. One of them kept grinding her body like he was about to hump her like a horny dog. Alison pushed him away and wandered off to the bar where she noticed _him_.

He looked somewhat misplaced in the wild party crowd with his cashmere sweater, brown and white floral patterned board shorts and navy blue Hilfiger flip-flops. A Hawaiian flower necklace hung limply around his neck and a pair of Rayban's sat on his forehead. He looked at her shyly, every now and then sipping on a glass of vodka lemon until he finally made a move and introduced himself as James Robinson – an alias, which she found out later. He seemed so innocent with his tousled dark brown hair, mud-colored eyes and charming smile. They talked until 4 am in the morning, the crowd slowly but surely thinning and the music changing from booming techno music to a relaxing reggae tune. Alison was casually sipping on a Cosmopolitan when he finally leaned in to meet her lips in a shy and tender kiss. He tasted like vodka and lime juice and Alison could swear she had smelled the bitter scent of his perfume before. When the bar closed at 5am, he brought her to his hotel room and ordered a bottle of champagne. They kissed for what seemed like hours and Alison could literally feel the control over herself slipping out of her hands with every new glass of liquor he poured her. At some point, he pulled off his sweater, revealing his well-defined chest and abdomen. Alison bit down on her lower lip, taking in every detail of his ripped physique. He planted wet kisses alongside her jaw and down her neck and slowly unbuttoned her white, sleeveless blouse. It didn't take very long until they were lying next to one another, fully undressed, gazing into each other's eyes, tipsy smiles on their faces. He tentatively cupped her face and pulled her closer into a fervent kiss, pressing his naked body against hers. All of the sudden, he pulled away and looked at her with an uncertain expression. "Do you want to…?" He asked with a whisper.

Alison thought for a minute. Like every other young girl, she had always wanted her first time to be special and preferably with her long-term partner, but yet here she was, butt-naked, next to a guy she hardly knew. Maybe she should just get it over with? Screw all the romantic crap? After all, she did feel kind of different with him than she did with all the other boys and the moment did indeed feel right.

After quite a long minute of silence, she nodded slowly. He looked at her, one eyebrow raised, as if asking her whether she was sure and she nodded again, this time more vigorously.

When they let go of each other, broad daylight streamed into the hotel room. The digital clock next to the bed said it was 9 am in the morning and Alison suddenly felt extremely tired. She had written CeCe a text when James had ordered the champagne, but the other blonde hadn't replied yet. Alison reckoned, she had taken off with an accompaniment herself.

Looking at James again, now with more light and less influence of alcohol, she noticed that he looked a lot older than he did last night. There was an unidentifiable look on his face and the sparkling from his eyes was gone. His lips were tightly clamped together and he was awkwardly quiet.

"You need to leave now", he eventually said with a rather stern tone. Alison looked at him confusedly, sheets pulled up to her chin to cover her bare chest. "Uhm .. what?"

"You can't stay here. Go", he said, his voice cold and distanced. He scooped her clothes off the floor and pointed to the bathroom. "Get dressed. I need to make a call", he ordered.

Alison felt tears dotting her eyes. A wave of shame and guilt overcame her almost instantly. She got up quickly, grabbed her clothes and slammed the bathroom door shut. As soon as she was inside, she fell down to her knees, exploding in a flood of tears. James' muffled voice could be heard from outside and Alison saw him pacing back and forth through the keyhole. Was it really just an act to get her into bed? She felt so stupid and naïve for trusting him. A harsh knock on the door ripped her out of her thoughts. "Are you finished already?" Alison sucked in a deep breath and forcefully wiped the tears off her face. She thrust the door open and shoved herself past him and out the door. When she reached the lobby, her phone bleeped in her bag. She fished it out, guessing it was a text from CeCe but instead it was from an anonymous number.

Enjoyed your first ride? Too bad it only lasted for a night.

Alison whipped around, sensing a presence in her proximity but the lobby was completely empty except for the receptionist who was absently typing on his computer. Alison's heart bumped hard against her chest and her eyes darted in every possible direction. Who could possibly know about this? As far as she knew, she didn't give James her number so it couldn't be him, and Alison would've definitely noticed if there had been someone else in the room. She hadn't been_ that_ drunk. A queasy feeling settled over her. Had someone been watching them through the windows? With a camera? The mere thought of it was sending chills over her skin. Unsure of what to do, she dashed through the hotel doors into the scorching heat of the sunlight. And all of the sudden, her stomach couldn't hold it in anymore and she tumbled to her knees and threw up in the warm sand.

… _back to the present_

"How come those things never happen to you? You always seem so … invincible", Alison wondered, her look squarely on CeCe. She rested her arms on the railing and inhaled the salt-tanged air.

The blonde shrugged nonchalantly. "Maybe I'm just lucky."

"No, that's not it. People respect you, they _fear _you. They wouldn't dare to hurt you", Alison answered sharply.

"Well, … I always deemed trust to be the best weapon you could use against somebody. Let them show you their darkest places and weakest spots. The more you know about a person, about their deepest feelings and dirtiest secrets, the more you'll be able to control them. You did become quite good at that, didn't you?" The corners of her mouth pulled up into a sly grin.

"Well, I had the best teacher", Alison responded with a devious smile of her own.

_~ Flashback end ~_

**ROSEWOOD POLICE DEP**_**A**_**RTMENT**

"17 of age, female, uneven abrasion collar indicating that the bullet hit at a certain angle, approximate time of death: 15 hours." Detective Holbrook scanned the lifeless body of his latest victim, a young, black girl whose identity hadn't yet been clarified. He rose from the blood-strewn floor and hauled out a little notebook from his coat's pocket to enter the recently obtained information. Inspector Tanner stood a few meters away, calmly talking to the agitated old man who had found the victim in the early morning hours.

"I … I … think there might have been a gunshot. I heard it last night, but I was too afraid to look. I came out here in the morning to check and that was when I found her", he explained with a conscience-stricken voice. His hands were flying through the air in wild gesticulations as he talked.

Tanner nodded slowly, a worry crinkle forming on her forehead. The annual Rosewood High masquerade ball had been held nearby yesterday evening and 5 of its attendants were quite well known to the police. She had a hunch, no, she was actually certain, that they had been in some way involved in this. She put a reassuring hand on the man's shoulder and told him that the police might ask him to come to the station for further questioning, but that for now his help has been very much appreciated and he can go back to his apartment.

Then she walked up to Holbrook, who still eyed the figure on the floor - her shock-widened eyes, her pallid skin and her blood-caked hair. "Do we have a suspect already?" The woman asked.

The detective chewed pensively on his lower lip, then he looked at Tanner. "I suppose you'll tell me."

**J**_**A**_**SON**

A swirl of cold air enveloped him and cars rushed past him with swooshing noises. Graying clouds closed in above his head to a thick, jagged canopy and soon the first rain drops speckled the streets. They felt like needles pricking his skin.

The last couple of days were burned into his memory system no matter how hard he tried to forget them. How often he had wished to die down there, in his own personal hell. The countless times his hopes to escape were smothered by an ungraceful hit of a fist.

It had all ended with a deal, though not a favorable one. His ticket to freedom was most definitely his sister's ticket to hell. If he ever dared to say a single word, let alone a single name, his days would be numbered. Some kind of a big brother he was. Trading his sister's life for his own, but then again, what would have happened if he had died down there? Would they've stopped? Highly unlikely.

Worst of all was the fact that without one little mistake, things could've turned out differently. To be brutally honest, he had dug his own grave when he decided to trust somebody so duplicitous and manipulative. And it was only now that the realization of what his deeds had brought about hit him with a force that almost pulled the rug out from under his feet.

Icy wind blew through his goldish hair as he proceeded to walk down the street, not yet sure of where his journey would end. One the one hand there was nothing he wished more for than to reunite with his family, while he still had the chance to, but on the other hand forces he couldn't talk about pulled him out of this town, out of this country. On certain days he simply wanted to turn around and run as long as his feet would carry him.

The things he did were unforgivable, yet there was more to the story than could be told. His motives had never been primarily selfish. Humans were able to do the most despicable things under the right pressures.

People from across the streets glared at him. Sure enough, they had seen him in one of many newscasts revolving the DiLaurentis family. But since his sister magically arose from the dead it wasn't much of a surprise that he had somehow managed to come back as well. Amongst the many scowls there were also a few innocent ones, trying to put a name to his face but failing.

At the end of the street he could see the pompous structure of the DiLaurentis mansion rising from the ground and all of the sudden he stood still, contemplating his choices. With one swift turn of his heels he could walk the other way and leave his old life behind, like he had done so many times before, but something seemed to push him into the other direction.

_**A**_**RIA**

The silence was suffocating. Aria peeked out of the window, down on the rain-soaked streets of Rosewood, her face vacated by every hint of emotion. Pictures swiveled through her mind – from the disappointed looks on her friend's face upon finding out about her betrayal to the shocked expression on Shana's face, which - even though she hadn't seen it - she could very well imagine. A painful sting of remorse surged through her chest when she mentally went back to the cold, crisp night in which she had committed a crime so despicable, that she couldn't face herself in the mirror anymore.

She didn't plan on pulling the trigger, but it had all went so fast and unexpected, as if the gun had went off automatically without her permission. A deafening noise had clipped a hole in the night and the missile had rapidly headed towards its target. A single scream had torn the nocturnal silence in shreds. It still reverberated in the back of her head.

Rain hammered against the window pane with a steady rhythm. The clock ticked in a corner of the room, slow and punishing.

Aria didn't dare think of the consequences that lay ahead. Sure she had tried to cover her tracks as diligently as possible, but she couldn't bring herself to believe that the police wouldn't find out sooner or later. Or even worse, that one of her friends would report her. Frankly, that wouldn't be so far-fetched. After all they had every reason to hate her. Plus they could pull themselves out of the affair. Merely their presence at the crime scene, in combination with their history with the Rosewood police force, could get them into serious trouble. What easier way to dodge the bullet then to blame it all on her, to hurt her just as much as she had hurt them? _How does it feel, to be betrayed?_ Aria could imagine them saying, their faces full of scorn and hatred.

Her eyes wandered searchingly through her room, landing on a half-empty bottle of Jack Daniels nestled between a couple of leather bound books that looked like they were from a century ago. A thought solidified in her head. After a few long beats, she reached out and grabbed the bottle by its neck. Her sorrows oozed out of her body, as soon she slugged down the amber liquid. It burned its way down her throat like pure acid and spread with soothing warmness in her stomach. She hiccupped as she put the bottle away again, only an almost unnoticeable puddle of liquor left on its base. A slight dizziness overcame her as she forced her back into the soft surface of her bed. Silent tears streamed down her doll-like face like the water-droplets on the window pane.

**THE GIRLS**

Rain crackled on the window pane and the stirring noise of the coffee machine resounded from the kitchen. Soon enough the bitter smell of the freshly brewed beverage invaded the room. Hanna and Emily slowly sunk into the velvet cushions on the couch with unreadable expressions on their faces. Spencer emerged from the kitchen shortly after, equipped with three large porcelain cups.

The coffee was still sizzling hot and Hanna couldn't prevent a whining sound slipping from her lips when the liquid hit the sensitive nerves on her tongue. She glanced at Emily, who catatonically stared outside the clogged windows. She opened her mouth in an attempt to say something, but Spencer interrupted her. "Have you guys heard from Aria? I tried calling her at least a dozen times, but she won't answer."

The two girls shook their head in unison. After the latest events, they couldn't help but feel a little bit guilty for not trying to understand where their friend was coming from. Sure her deed was unacceptable on many terms, but they all had done things they weren't particularly proud of. They'd made their visit to the dark side and they had all at one point fraternized with the enemy. As contemptible as her actions were, they couldn't bring themselves to hate her, especially not after she had so heroically saved them last night.

_Last night._

They pictures were still crystal clear on their minds. _The revelation of Shana being A. The shot. Her lifeless body on the floor. _

In a moment of sheer despair, they hadn't known anything else to do than run. No calls to the police, to talking to people on the street. Someone would quickly put 1 and 1 together and connect them to her death. It would be blatantly stupid to masquerade as witnesses. They could only hope that they'd escaped the crime scene quickly enough, without any curious eyes watching them. Even though Shana's blood wasn't on their hands, they were just as guilty.

"I can't believe Shana is A", Emily breathed. Her usually so healthily tanned skin was abnormally light and she looked worn out and beaten. Hanna silently sipped on her coffee, her complexion equally pallid.

"It doesn't make a great deal of sense, does it?" Spencer pensively fixated the Princeton coffee mug her father had given her as a pre-present for her acceptance at the Ivy League college. But given her current situation, Princeton was still a far-away dream she didn't dare look forward to. For all she knew she could be a suspect in the murder of Shana Fring just tomorrow.

"What if … I mean, do you think it is possible that Shana was just … " Hanna struggled with the right choice of words to bring in her thought as delicately as possible … "part of a big plan or group? I mean did she really strike you as the diabolical mastermind that A is?"

Even though the other girls didn't respond, the looks on their faces clearly said "no".

**THE DIL**_**A**_**URENTIS F**_**A**_**MILY**

It felt like a ghost had appeared in his door frame. Goose bumps prickled on Kenneth DiLaurentis' skin as he watched his believed to be dead daughter walk up to him. She hadn't changed a lot since he had last seen her. Same heart-shaped face, same golden waterfall of hair and the same strikingly beautiful, cerulean eyes. He felt like his feet were nailed to the floor. A torrent of questions flooded his head.

"Dad…" Her voice was nothing but a faint whisper.

He closed the gap between them and engulfed her in a big, protective hug. Tears rolled down his cheeks and he inhaled the familiar scent of her perfume.

Outside the heavy downpour had subdued to a light drizzling. The sky was still filled with sheets of black clouds, covering every glint of sunlight.

After some time Kenneth pulled away, his hands still lingering on her shoulders as he examined her from head to toe. "What … I mean, where have you been? What happened? Is someone still trying to hurt you?"

Alison opened her mouth to say something, but she was so overwhelmed by her emotions, that the only thing escaping her lips was a pained whimper. A waterfall of tears broke from her eyes as she fell into the arms of her father once again. Her whole body jittered with every sob. Where would she even begin to explain? How _could _she even explain without revealing her own culpability?

A noise coming from the front door made them break apart. Alison did a double take. Her heartbeat fell silent for a few seconds and her eyes bulged out unnaturally. _Was she dreaming?_ _Hallucinating?_ She glimpsed at her father who was just as flummoxed.

A tall figure had appeared at the front steps. His goldish hair was plastered to his forehead and his clothes were soaked from the rain. His azure eyes took in the scenery in front of him and his lips were mashed together as if he was trying to prevent the words from falling out without his permission.

"Jason…"

**MELISS**_**A**_

It felt like she had been disconnected from this world for months. Melissa Hastings blinked a few times before her eyes could fully adjust to the brightness of the fluorescent lights inside the hospital room. Her eye lids felt like curtains of iron and every yet so little movement sent surges of pain through her sore body. A thunder-storm rumored behind the window panes and rain drops hammered against the glass. Aside from that, there was hardly a noise in her vicinity.

She let out short and heavy breaths, her chest burning with every new attempt to fill her lungs with a proper amount of oxygen. Pictures recollected in her head, piecing themselves together to scenes and complete memories – memories which she had desperately tried to force out of her consciousness.

Flying metal, desperate cries, blazing fire – everything went together – vividly - in front of her inner eye.

She was somewhat lucky to be alive. Glancing downwards, she could finally take in the whole dimension of her injuries.

However, her briefly lasting feeling of relief was soon replaced by an immensely overwhelming guilt. She had brought this upon herself, and upon a dozen of other people for that matter.

She let her thoughts wander from her cold but caring parents, to her instable relationship with her younger sister. Then onwards to a certain blonde that had been one of the main drives for this whole maniacal game. Alison DiLaurentis was no victim, not at all. She might've been at the wrong place at the wrong time, much like Melissa herself, but she was all but innocent.

A shiver of fear rippled over her skin when she realized what exactly she had to do. She had been lying way too many times before, it was about time to spill the truth.

**H**_**A**_**NNA**

"That was one hell of a night, huh?" Caleb muttered almost inaudibly. He and Spencer's boyfriend Toby had appeared at the scene of crime a few minutes after Shana was shot by Aria. However, none of them had said a word about Shana's actual murderer. _Someone came out of nowhere and shot her_, they'd said. _We didn't see their face, they were too fast_.

Hanna nodded, her eyes absentmindedly canvassing the mannequins in one of the high fashion stores on her right.

"Have you talked to Aria yet?" He asked and Hanna flinched slightly at the mention of her friend's name.

"No, she hasn't answered any of our calls yet." She dismissed the topic quickly.

"So, aren't you going to push her a little more?" Caleb continued to ask nevertheless.

"I don't think pushing is what she needs right now", the blonde said through gritted teeth. Sure Caleb wasn't aware of one of the most important details of this night, but it still annoyed her that he kept on asking questions.

"Uh, okay?" He gave her a skeptical look, a single wrinkle forming on his forehead. "You're in a mood today", he added silently.

Hanna wanted to say something when she was interrupted by a familiar voice greeting her from the other side of the street. She averted her look from the display windows to find Travis Hobbs standing there, frantically waving with his hand.

_Oh good god no_. She forced a fake smile on her face and gave him a friendly three finger wave_. Oh crap_. The bald headed male started heading in her direction, cautiously looking from right to left to watch out for cars.

"He's one hell of a persistent parasite… I mean, he's not going to give up, huh?" Caleb muttered in annoyance. This time Hanna couldn't but agree.

Once Travis had safely reached the other side of the street, he inched forward to give Hanna a hug. The girl stepped back just in time and stumbled into her boyfriend who couldn't help himself but smile at the pathetic attempts of the other male. He even felt a little sorry for him.

"Hey, I was looking for you all night yesterday, but I couldn't find you." Travis asked, hands shoved in his pocket and an innocent smile playing across his lips.

"I uh …" The events from the other day immediately visualized in her brain again and Hanna had to shut her eyes and took a deep breath before she answered. "The place was so stuffy and we weren't so fond of the music either." She nudged her boyfriend with her elbow. Caleb stifled a pain filled moan and added: "Yeah, the DJ kinda sucked."

Travis wrinkled his forehead a little, not quite believing their excuse. He wanted to say something, but decided against it and changed the topic instead. "So, I was wondering … are you free this Saturday evening? There's this new really cool flicker in the cinema and…"

"Would you stop acting like she's still your girlfriend?" Caleb burst out in indignation. _Who did this guy think he was? _

"Hey, I was just asking something, man". Travis lifted his hands up in defense.

"Sure you were. Hey, I understand that your break up came unexpected and all and I am really sorry but this…" He gesticulated between him and his girlfriend. "… this needs to stop.

"This is a free country, isn't it? I can ask whatever I want." Travis countered nonchalantly.

"Not when you're asking out someone else's girlfriend", Caleb stated matter-of-factly. "She's over you and you'll have to come to terms with that. Get a grip."

With that he took Hanna's hand and made an attempt to walk into the other direction. Hanna gave Travis an apologetic shrug with her shoulders, her eyes saying "sorry, but he has a point".

"Okay, take that slut, I don't care" Travis shouted after them.

Caleb's mind went blank with anger. Somewhere at the back of his brain he knew Travis was just desperately trying to provoke him, but he'd be damned to stand there and let someone insult his girlfriend. He whirled around and strode towards the other male, fury in his eyes.

He hauled off and with a harrowing cracking-noise, his fist landed right on Travis' nose. The guy let out a pained whimper and stumbled back, pressing his hands into his bloodied face.

"You son of a …" He screamed through gritted teeth.

Caleb stood there like glued to the spot, his hand still raised and his knuckles speckled with Travis' blood. He in- and exhaled slowly and audibly, not quite believing what he had just done.

Hanna's face was as pale as death and her hands covered her mouth to hold back a shocked scream.

"You're screwed, Caleb Rivers, I'll see to that", Travis hissed, wiping another gush of blood off his face. His nose was crooked in a painful looking angle and his lips were severely lacerated.

"What are you going to do?" Hanna asked, her voice nothing but an anxious whisper.

"I am going to the police, what do you think I'll do?" Travis spat, his face still contorted in pain.

A look of horror crossed Caleb's face and he realized what big of a mistake he had done, but before he could say anything that would stop Travis, the man had already stomped away.

Hanna squinted hard, trying to process what had just gone down. Next to her, Caleb leaned shakily against the wall of one of the many shops lining the sidewalk. There was a horrified expression painted over his face with paleness. He whispered something to himself.

"What was that?" Hanna asked, for the first time noticing her boyfriend's appalled expression.

"We can't let him go to the police", Caleb repeated, this time a little louder.

"No kidding", Hanna retorted sarcastically.

"No, you don't understand … There's something I didn't tell you … about Ravenswood." He awkwardly looked to the side, the guilt obvious in his face.

The blonde raised a questioning eyebrow and looked at him expectantly.

"I can't go into detail right now", he whispered. "You will just have to trust me."

_**A**_**RIA**

She didn't know how she eventually ended up in front of his door, but there she was, her shaking hand reaching for the doorbell. Her fingertips grazed the rough wooden surface of the door, a set of memories instantly flashing through her head. She's been here so many times before, as lost and clueless as she felt at this very moment. And despite all the pain and sorrow he had caused, Ezra Fitz was still her one and only tower of strength, especially in a situation in which she felt so helpless and alone. With her friends out of the picture and a family she didn't dare to talk to about something like this, who else could she turn to?

The jarring sound of the doorbell ripped her out of her thoughts. A few seconds of silence passed, until the door was opened with a faint creek and a drowsy looking male with tousled black hair and pale skin looked at her in utter surprise.

"Aria…" His grey eyes scanned her from head to toe. The girl could catch a glimpse of the bandage wound around his abdomen as the hem of his shirt lifted slightly.

"I need to talk to you", Aria almost whispered, her heart slamming against her chest so hard that she was almost sure its beat could be heard in the empty and silent hallway.

Ezra stepped aside a little, a brief expression of pain on his face as the musculature around his scar tensed, and the raven-haired girl passed hesitantly.

The well-known smell of books greeted her like it had done so many times before. The familiarity of the scenery triggered an overwhelming feeling of nostalgia, building its way up her throat, threatening to erupt in a waterfall of tears.

"Do you want something? Tea? Coffee? Cookies?" The injured male clumsily walked into the kitchen, his hand covering the hurt area on his abdomen.

"No, thanks, I am good", Aria responded quickly, forcing herself down on his couch. She tried to avert her thoughts from going back to the times in which they would spend days on that couch, talking, cuddling and kissing.

After some rumbling in the kitchen, Ezra reappeared with a cup of steaming coffee and took a seat next to her, leaving a respective gap between them.

He looked at her with such warmness in his eyes, that Aria melted away instantly. Tear after tear streamed down her porcelain cheek and trickled onto her grey, woolen cardigan.

Ezra refrained from wiping them away and watched as they descended from her face one by one.

"I've done something unspeakable", Aria muttered, an unbearable weight suddenly settling on her chest.

"We all have", Ezra said carefully. "But behind some of our bad decisions lies a good reason." His touch on her shoulder was almost imperceptible, yet it triggered another wave of emotions.

"That doesn't matter if you commit the worst of all crimes", she sobbed. "Ezra, I…I killed someone, I saw someone's life leaving their body and it was my, _only my,_ fault. I didn't help, I just ran. And I kept running, until my lungs were burning and I couldn't feel my legs anymore. But I will never be able to banish the picture from my brain. I…" She buried her face in her hands as another gust of tears flooded out of the corners of her eyes.

The male's complexion turned a tone paler, realizing all of the sudden, that it was him alone who caused all of this. "Did you use …?" He asked, not awaiting an answer, as it was pretty obvious.

Aria nodded silently, her face strewn with mascara.

She told him everything, from her deal with A to the prom, including the moment she decided to shoot Shana right there and then, not that she ever intended to hurt her fatally, but in this second it was either her friends or the girl. The words came so naturally, one by one handed to her patient listener.

And he listened, for minutes, for hours, until she was out of words to give and fell asleep on his couch, her tiny head tilted to the side, touching his shoulder. It was his first day out of the hospital and there was no place he'd rather be right now, then right here, next to her – despite the rush of guilt in his conscience.

**EMILY**

Night was slowly closing in and Rosewood was bathed in gloomy darkness. Emily Fields was just about to get rid of the last coffee stain on the counter when a familiar voice interrupted her.

Her eyes darted into the direction of the intruder, an uneasy feeling overcoming her.

"Paige… What are you doing here? I was just about to close." She fixated her look on the counter again, still not used to the presence of the other girl.

"I just wanted to know how you are", Paige explained warmly.

"I am fine", Emily responded briefly, busying herself with cleaning again.

"You know, there was a murder near the prom? They haven't revealed the name of the victim yet but rumor has it, it was a student of Rosewood High", the other girl continued.

The blood in Emily's arteries froze and her muscles all tensed simultaneously. "Wh…what?"

"Yeah, quite obviously they were involved in a gun fight. Again, they haven't given us much information yet." Paige stepped a little closer, examining the other girl closely.

"Are you sure you're alright?" She asked with a frown.

"Y…yes, sure. I am … I am just shocked by the news, that's all. So, they haven't said anything else yet?" Her heart was hammering against her chest and she swallowed hard.

"No, not yet." A few beats passed. "So, Alison's officially back now, huh?" She changed the topic.

"Yes, uhm … I understand if you're not all too excited about that, but… she's been through a lot and I think she's really sorry for all that she has done…to everyone, including you", Emily tried to defend her friend.

"Uh huh, I am sure she is", Paige said rather skeptically. She stuffed her hands in her pocket and awkwardly stepped from one foot to the other. "Are you uh … I mean, how do you feel about all of this?"

Emily stopped midway in the cleaning process. Her mind was still occupied by the fact that the police had obviously found Shana's body and if there would be things that she could think clearly about right now, Alison was definitely not amongst them.

"I don't really feel like that's something we should discuss right now", she responded coldly.

Paige nodded slowly, obviously not so satisfied with the answer.

Emily put the cleaning towel away and allowed herself to think about Alison for just one brief moment. It was actually an interesting question. How _did _she feel about all of this? Torn? Hurt? Confused? She couldn't deny the euphoric rush when Alison's lips had met hers with such fervent passion the other day, but she also couldn't deny the stinging pain of disappointment she had felt when she found out that Alison had been lying to her. Again.

"I've seen the way you look at her. You still have those feelings for her, don't you?" She noted with a rather sour tone.

Emily avoided her judging look and bit down hard on her lower lip. _Of course she still had those feelings, they never really went away_. "I don't want to talk about Alison right now", she emphasized once again.

"I am sorry, it's just that I happen to care about _you_ and I just don't want to see you get hurt…again." Paige's lip quivered slightly while she spoke and Emily could swear her eyes were a little watery.

"I think I can very well take care of myself", Emily responded more sharply than intended to. Her own eyes burned with oncoming tears, mostly because deeply inside she feared the same as Paige – that she'd get hurt all over again, by the very same person.

**SPENCER**

Spencer's emotions were going in every direction, from immense happiness and relief to something relatable to fear and anger. When the hospital had called to announce that her sister had awoken from her coma, she had broken out in tears. Her parents and her had engulfed in a big threesome hug and even her father had shed a few unexpected tears of joy.

They had immediately hopped on the car and driven to the hospital. Her mother hadn't even cared about her smudged make-up and wild hairdo.

Arriving at the entrance gate they had to maneuver through a bunch of paramedics that were frantically running back and forth, obviously waiting for something. Mr. Hastings almost knocked one of them over as he feverishly pressed forward through the glass doors.

When they arrived at Melissa's room, they were struggling for air. A young, male doctor led them inside and flooded them with a bunch of Latin words related to the woman's condition. Melissa was lying in her bed, half-awake, with a drowsy and beaten look on her contused face. She lifted the corners of her mouth to give them a weak smile.

The Hastings ignored the doctor and headed straight to their daughter. Spencer remained at the door for a little while, watching her family reunite from the distance. "I will give you some private time, but I'll come back in about 20 minutes to discuss the further proceedings with your parents", the physician informed her and vanished through the door.

Spencer retrieved a crumbled piece of paper from her pockets and stared at it absentmindedly. Then she crushed it in her hands and walked up to her family and lightly tipped her mother on the shoulder. "Can we have a few minutes?" She asked, trying to sound as neutral as possible.

Her parents exchanged a look, then they hesitantly rose from the plastic stools near the bed, gave their older daughter one last peck on the forehead and left the two girls alone.

Spencer sat down slowly and straightened her shirt. She drew in a deep breath, then started to talk:

"I found a note here yesterday." By the widening of Melissa's eyes she could tell that the woman knew what the note was or could be about.

"I am glad that you are alive, I really am. It may not seem this way at all times, but I do care about you. You are my sister, for god's sake…" She paused for a second. "But you were obviously involved in all of this. You were involved with A and you might know what happened to the girl in Alison's grave and/or who is still after Ali and us. Melissa, you have to tell me what you know,… everything you know. This family has spread enough lies already."

Spencer could see the dears dotting her sister's eyes as she continued to speak. Midway in another sentence, she was interrupted by Melissa who weakly lifted her hands to stop her. She waited for Spencer to come closer, since her voice was still too weak to speak in a louder tone, and whispered something in her ear.

Spencer's eyes grew wider and wider with every word. She could hear the shakiness in her sister's voice, expecting her to tear up at any moment, but the woman remained calm, as she always did.

**THE GIRLS**

After receiving one frantic phone call from Spencer, the girls, minus Aria and Alison, had instantly vanished through their doors and headed towards the Hasting's house. Gathered inside the kitchen, they were all expectantly staring at their friend. "So, what is it?" Hanna asked, her nerves still on edge after her boyfriend's latest revelation.

Spencer took a huge, shaky breath. "It's Melissa… she…" The girl was obviously struggling to find the right words. "Melissa killed Jessica DiLaurentis."

The girls' jaws dropped in unison. Nobody dared to say a word. It felt so surreal and frighteningly real at the same time. They were all sure of Melissa's involvement in the A-team but _this _came unexpected nevertheless.

"I can't believe it", Emily muttered under her breath. They were all still looking at Spencer, waiting for some kind of explanation.

"She was trying to protect me", the girl said slowly. "Mrs. DiLaurentis wanted to tell the police that _I_ killed the girl in Ali's grave. But it was her, she killed her, Melissa saw her move the body the night Alison disappeared!" A protuberant vein on Spencer's head was pulsating like crazy and her eyes were maniacally dilated.

Another moment filled with shocked silence, the only sound being the mumbling of the people on TV in the background.

"Mrs. D killed Jane Doe?" Hanna asked unbelievingly.

"According to my sister, yes." Spencer grabbed her pulsating forehead and groaned. "She said she was going to report everything to the police, today. And I spoke to her a few hours ago, so…" She pointed at the TV in the corner of the room. "If she does, it'll probably be on the evening's news."

The infamous sound of the news introduction resounded from the device and everyone's body tensed. Seconds later the news anchor, a middle-aged Afro-American woman with shoulder-length hair and a rigid posture, welcomed her viewers. She started off by enlisting today's relevant topics, one of which was the further progressions in the murder case of the girl in Alison DiLaurentis' grave.

"According to the newest police reports, the identity of the girl believed to have been Alison DiLaurentis, has been solved in a recent autopsy."

Spencer's phone buzzed, but she ignored it.

"We know now that the girl's name is Bethany Young. From what the police has found out yet, we know that she used to be a resident at the psychiatric ward 'Radley' and was also linked to Alison DiLaurentis' lately deceased mother, Jessica DiLaurentis. So far these were all the connections that could have been made." The picture of Alison in the right-hand corner of the screen vanished and was replaced by a picture of a tumult in Afghanistan, as the anchor proceeded with the next topic.

Silence filled the room once again. Everyone knew what the other person was thinking but none of them dared to speak it out loud. At last, Spencer retrieved her phone from her pocket and gazed at the display, her jaw inching downwards with every word she read.

_Once a liar. Always a liar. Guess it runs in the family._

_Kisses – A_

Attached was a picture of her sister getting on a plane to god knows where. Spencer was about to say something, when the news anchor's voice interrupted her.

"I am receiving another report…", the lady said, pressing a finger to one of her headphones, listening attentively to whoever was talking to her.

"The police just identified another body that was shot near a school festival of Rosewood High. It appears to be Shana Fringe, one of the residents." On cue a picture of Shana materialized at the right-hand side of the screen, her eyes staring at them through the TV.

"Oh my god", Emily whispered, all color draining from her face. Hanna was frantically chewing on her nails and Spencer just stood there, motion- and speechless.

A series of different jingles resounded from their phones. With shaking hands and hammering hearts, they all reached for their phones.

"_Their flesh may be rotten, but beware, my little liars. I will bring every body, you tried to burry, back from the dead, and when I do, it'll be your faces on the TV screen._

_Kisses - A_

_**A**_

Only a sparse glint of moonlight entered the dark room and illuminated the smooth surface of a desk. There was a picture of someone in black and white, lying on top of a stack of documents. A darkly dressed figure emerged from the shadows, the infamous hood covering their face. With leather gloved hands, the person took the picture in their hands, carefully wiping over the shiny material. Upon a closer look the photograph could be identified as a mug shot of a blonde, rather young male with a ready-to-kill look on his face. The name "Cyrus Petrillo" was scribbled on the lower end of the picture. The hooded figure laid the photo back on the table and turned to a laptop nearby to enter in the name. A few links came as a search result, one of them including Petrillo's phone number which the anonymous person noted down on a tiny piece of paper.

* * *

_**I only read over this once, so there might be a few (or maybe a lot of) mistakes. Try to ignore them :)** _


	13. a wAlk down memory lane

T he Devil within

A Pretty Little Liars Fanfiction

Set after 4x24 "A is for Alive"

**Title: **The Devil within

**Author: **Myself

**Co-Author: **-

**Fandom: **ABC Family's Pretty Little Liars

**Pairings: **Spoby, Emison, Haleb, Ezria, Tranna

**Spoilers: ** SE04 &amp; SE05

**Posting: **Romance/Drama/Mystery

**Rating: **MA

**A/N: **All characters of Pretty Little Liars belong to Sara Shepard and ABC Family ©

**Synopsis: **Alison's return to Rosewood inflicts each of the liar's life in an individual way. Whilst Emily has to deal with her undying love, Aria will go down a dark path and she's taking a few people with her. Hanna has to wriggle herself out of a love triangle and Spencer must do anything in her power to keep her family together after she finds a couple of skeletons in their closets.

**Sorry for the late update, but I had so much stuff to get done, I barely got time to even think about this story. Hope you don't mind and I wish you an enjoyable read!**

**The Girls**

The voice of the news anchor still echoed through their heads when they met at Spencer's the next morning, the picture of Shana's shocked facial expression imprinted to their memory.

"Guys, we knew this would've happened sooner or later. It's not like we did anything in order to get rid of the body." Spencer felt her skin crawl when she processed the words that had just come out of her mouth.

Hanna buried her head in her hands and let out a shaky breath. "This can't be happening", she murmured.

Emily compulsively ran her fingers through her thick black mane, her face drained of all color. She looked like her circulation would give in at any second. So many thoughts were running through her head, so many emotions overwhelming her all at once. She glimpsed at Spencer, who catatonically fixated a spot in the distance. It wasn't much of a surprise that her sister, Melissa, had chickened out in the very last second. Admitting to a murder – independent on the reasons behind it – would've ruined her life and future for good. For some bizarre reason, Emily even felt a little sorry for her.

"Are you sure what your sister told you is true?" Hanna asked, her eyes rimmed with purple circles from the severe lack of sleep in the last week. "Why would Ms. DiLaurentis kill this girl?"

"I don't know, but you heard it yourself. There's a connection. Maybe they knew each other from Radley? Ms. D used to work there, remember?" Spencer reasoned.

"Ugh I am getting a headache", Hanna groaned. "Nothing makes sense anymore. Melissa killed Ms. D, who allegedly killed the girl in Ali's grave for god knows which reasons and what role does Shana play in all of this?"

Spencer shrugged. "Rosewood is full of people with secrets."

"Maybe the girl in Ali's grave … Bethany … was the one to hit Ali with the rock?" Emily suggested.

"But what reason would she have had?" Spencer questioned, absentmindedly staring at the ceiling and caressing her chin with her thumb and index finger.

"Ali knew plenty of people from all around town. Maybe Bethany used to be a friend of hers and then Alison did something so … gruesome … that Bethany wanted revenge for. I don't know, it's just a theory", Hanna explained, incessantly chewing on her lower lip.

"Alison has tortured numerous of people and even though some of them were totally bonkers, none of them had ever tried to kill her or harm her physically. What would enrage somebody that much that they would kill someone else? I mean committing a murder comes with certain consequences. There must be a significant reason if you are willing to take this risk", Spencer reasoned.

"Bethany was a patient at Radley's, right?" Emily asked. Spencer nodded in response.

"Well, what if she wasn't aware of the consequences? What if her – whatever mental disability she had – stopped her from thinking rationally? Correct me if I am wrong, but that sounds like a plausible explanation", Emily concluded.

"You do have a point", Spencer responded. "Yet, I still believe there is more to that than we see."

Hanna let out a sarcastic laugh. "Oh, isn't there always?"

_**A**_**ria**

When she woke up, every part of her body was aching. Her limbs felt as heavy as stone and her head was spinning. Memories from yesterday sneaked into her consciousness and then she noticed something warm lying next to her, something breathing. She blinked a few times until her eyes had adjusted to the brightness of the day and was surprised to find Ezra lying next to her, his hair tousled and his shirt revealing a bit of his giant scar. He was snoring quietly and his eye lids twitched now and then, but Aria was certain that he would not wake up. She slowly heaved her tired body off the couch and tiptoed into the kitchen. With every passing second, yesterday became more vivid and clear on her mind. She remembered visiting Ezra and talking to him, telling him things she had refrained herself from telling because simply uttering the words out loud caused her enough pain to break down emotionally. Her heartbeat increased noticeably. Why did she have to drag him into this? Wasn't it enough that she had used his gun? An unexpected urge took control of her and she felt the need to look for something to drink. With as cautious movements as she could muster, the raven-haired girl opened up every possible drawer or cabinet in the kitchen, frantically searching for something to take her mind off things. Eventually she succeeded and took a half-full bottle of Dom Pérignon out of one of the cabinets and a corkscrew out of one of the drawers. With a quick gesture she opened the bottle and took a huge, satisfying gulp. The bitter taste prickled on her tongue and a woozy feeling washed over her as soon as the alcohol showed its effect. Warmness spread in her stomach as the liquor had made its way down to her digestive system. A noise resounded from the living room area, a yawn, then the shuffling of feet on the wooden floor. Aria's heart started to race. She quickly plugged the cork back in the bottle and placed it behind her back when a drowsy looking Ezra entered the kitchen. His eyes were only half open and he looked like he hadn't really slept a lot last night. "What are you doing up so early?" He asked a little confused, not yet noticing his former girlfriend's awkward behavior.

"I, uh... was looking for some coffee", she quickly made up an excuse.

It took the male some time to respond, but then he pointed towards a Nespresso machine sitting in the corner. "Right there. You want me to make you some?" He stepped threateningly closer and Aria pressed her back hard against the kitchen counter. It was then that he noticed that something was most definitely off about her.

"Are you okay?" He asked with a puzzled look.

"Uh, yeah, I am fine, why?" Aria responded with a high-pitched voice, mustering up a weak smile.

"Are you sure?" Ezra walked towards her, eventually noticing the bottle behind her. "What's that?" He asked, reaching for it before Aria could stop him. A pathetic "no" escaped her mouth, when the man picked up the bottle and examined it with a hard to define expression on his face.

"Is that mine? he asked, still a little confused. "Did you... did you drink it?"

Aria bit down hard on her lips and avoided his gaze.

"Aria..." Ezra said softly, but with a hint of worry in his voice. "I know that the things you have done weigh heavily on you, but this..." He lifted up the bottle, the content sloshing against the glass. "...this is definitely no solution." He placed it on the counter to his right and wrapped the distraught girl in his arms. Aria hesitated a little, startled by this sudden gesture of affection but then she eventually melted in his touch, savoring the warmth that radiated from his body and inhaling the familiar scent of his cologne. "We can get through this", he whispered calmly and Aria fought hard to hold back another oncoming rush of emotions. A single tear streamed down her face and wetted his shoulder but she felt somewhat protected by his strong arms slung tenderly around her body. After some time had passed, he loosened his grip a little and stared into her fawn eyes, taken aback by the rare beauty of her face that never ceased to fascinate him. With some hesitation he cupped her face and leaned in a little closer, trying to pin down her reaction before he would ultimately do what he had wanted to do for so long after he had woken up at the hospital. Their lips met slowly but at the same time with a desperate longing. He gently placed his hands on her hips and started kissing just a little bit harder.

_**A**_**lison**

"Since when are you back?" Alison asked, leaning her fragile figure against the door frame of her brother's room. Jason was busying himself with rearranging stuff in his room without so much as looking at her. A minute of silence passed.

"Jason." Alison said sternly. "I thought you were dead, for god's sake. Is it too much to ask for a simple explanation?"

"How does it feel?" Jason responded bitterly, placing a pile of documents on his desk.

Alison sighed and opened her mouth in an attempt to say something, although she wasn't sure what she _could_ say.

Jason walked up the door, glimpsing at his younger sister who looked just the slightest bit frightened by his proximity, before he eventually walked out wordlessly.

Alison watched him walk down the stairs, his face contorted with pain when his bruised arm brushed the metal stair-rail. The picture of his brutally battered body swam into her mind. Blood gushing out of his lips, his face strewn with hematomas and bloody scratches – although they never had the closest relationship to each other, Alison had literally felt her heart crack at the sight of her brother's state. It had ultimately led her to break down mentally which was followed by a hard, still-in-progress, recovery. Alison understood that what her brother had gone through must have been

the worst kind of all tortures and it was only reasonable that he did not want to talk about it in detail, yet his behavior was somewhat suspicious. There was this strange, gnawing feeling that he was keeping a secret. In fact, Alison was sure that her brother had plenty of skeletons in his closet, he had always acted a bit too secretively, but then again that obviously ran in the DiLaurentis family.

She pushed herself away from the door frame and checked whether her brother was really gone. Then she tentatively took a step in his room, scanning every inch of the familiar surroundings. The wall was empty and cold, no posters, pictures or anything personal. His desk was littered with documents, empty cigarette packs and other small things. A few pieces of clothing were lying on the floor, a few school books here and there. In the corner of the room sat a dirty hockey stick which was almost broken in half. Alison walked up to desk and shuffled through the papers, but asides from essays, some scribbling and school notes she could not find anything of importance. All of the sudden a hardly audible noise caught her attention. She pivoted her look to the half-open window. The curtains were moving slightly, but then again it could have just been the wind outside. Then a crack resounded and her heartbeat paused for a few milliseconds. Cautiously and with trembling limbs she sneaked towards the window pane. Already dreading what she would possibly encounter, the young woman looked outside.

A gust of wind blew a few leafs across the empty street. It was eerily silent in Rosewood today. A broken street lamp crackled and almost made her topple over with shock. She eyed every yet so little detail of the scenery outside, but there was nothing suspicious to be found. Still she couldn't shake the feeling that something or rather someone had been here before, watching her. The mere thought of it made her skin crawl.

**C**_**A**_**leb**

A light breeze whistled through the empty streets of Ravenswood when Caleb Rivers walked alongside the lifeless shops with their bleak windows and dusted entrance doors. Sometimes it felt like passing the border to another world, a world full of unsolved mysteries and buried secrets. There was indeed some truth behind this imagination.

His secret rested heavily on him and he knew that sooner or later he couldn't but reveal his gruesome deed to Hanna. However, some precautions had to be taken care of before he would do that.

At a narrow side road he came to a halt and let his look swipe through the city. After having assured that nobody was in his proximity, he continued walking until he reached a secluded door, labelled with golden lettering. He took a deep breath and knocked 3 times. About half a minute letter someone cautiously opened the door. Caleb was instantly greeted by the familiar scent of marijuana and cigarette smoke. A young male, approximately the same height as Caleb, stood there in the cold evening breeze with nothing more but a dirty tank top and a pair of red and white striped boxers. A cigarette butt hung loosely from his lips and his eyes were rimmed with redness. He scratched his stubbly chin and needed a few seconds to recognize his visitor.

"Ahh, Caleb, old pal, what brings you here to the town of the dead?" He joked and took a step aside to grant his friend entrance.

The smell of weed intensified with every step he took and soon he was enveloped in a thick cloud of smoke. A large glass bong stood on the table and a few nameless people were gathered around it like it was a holy relic. They all had equally red eyes and an equally satisfied look on their face. In this very moment Caleb wished he'd still smoke.

"So, what can I do for you? You want some?" The male gestured in the direction of the bong. Next to it laid a clump of weed the size of a brick.

"No, thanks, I am good." Or was he?

"Suit yourself." The male sat next to the other people and lit another cigarette.

"Dan, I need your help. You remember what happened with Miranda, right?" Caleb started, feeling a little uneasy with the presence of all the other people. "Is there any chance we can talk in private?"

Dan seemed somewhat startled by the mention of Miranda, but he nodded slowly and rose from his seat. "Sure, bro, let's go to the bedroom."

Once in a secure and private atmosphere, Caleb began to talk. He told him every detail from the incident between him and Travis to the fact that his girlfriend demanded to know the truth.

"Tough decision, man." Dan comradely put a hand on his shoulder. "I don't know. It's a huge secret. We haven't told anyone about this. What if she goes to the police?"

"I do trust her", Caleb responded seriously but with a certain hint of doubt in his voice.

Dan sighed audibly and lit his – if Caleb had counted right – tenth cigarette since he had arrived.

A full minute of silence passed, the cigarette smoke dancing in the dim light of the bedroom lamp.

"You know what? If you trust her, so do I. Tell her, man. She deserves the truth", Dan eventually said. One of his eye lids twitched and he looked just a tiny bit frightened, but he stuck to his decision nevertheless.

"You sure?"

"Yeah, sure, I won't stop you." He mustered up a smile.

"Thanks man." Both males rose from their seats and gave each other an amicable hug.

**Toby**

His heartbeat rose noticeably when Toby Cavanaugh stood in front of the huge, metal gates of the Radley Sanatorium. The building complex rose to the sky like a dark monstrosity, ready to swallow him as a whole.

He mentally went through all the steps again, everything had to happen according to plan or he would get caught. With one last deep breath, he took out a needle-looking object with which he expertly opened the lock of the gate. A terrible screeching sound resounded when the doors flung open and Toby couldn't keep himself from wincing. It was 5pm in the afternoon, but Rosewood was awkwardly silent. A couple of crows flew above his head and landed on the thick branch of a nearby tree. The scenery looked like it was directly cut out of a horror movie.

He made his way to the front door and opened it with the same device he had used before. With a loud "click" the door went open and he went inside.

There was a middle-aged nurse behind the reception, apathetically tapping away on the keyboard, the bright light of the screen illuminating her facial features. Toby had memorized every inch of the floor plan and it didn't take him a long time to find the place he was looking for – the storage room.

He made his way inside and when he reappeared, he was dressed in a pair of sterile white trousers and a white polo with a Radley logo imprint on the breast pocket. When he casually walked through the long, cold corridors he was greeted by some of the caregivers who did not even directly look into his face. They probably thought he was an intern.

At the end of the corridor was a steel door with large lettering that said "Entrance only for staff members". He reached into his pocket to fish out a key ring with at least a dozen of different keys. The third one worked.

Stiff air welcomed him and only a single light bulb swung from the ceiling. Piles and even more piles of documents were stacked in the corner on an old wooden table and huge metal cabinets, which supposedly contained all the patient files, covered the bleak walls. It took him about half an hour in which his nervousness grew and grew, until he finally found what he was looking for.

Patient name: YOUNG, Bethany

File no.: SP-303

Admitted: August 24, 2008

Released: -

Diagnosis: Schizophrenia

Report (Aug, 24th, 2008): ...

With sweaty hands he went through all the reports that were included in the file, frantically looking for a connection, not only to his mother, but to all the other people concerned by Bethany's mysterious death. On the 11th of June in 2009 he stopped.

"...she was insane, but she didn't know it. She thought I was the crazy one, everyone thought that. She made everyone think I was. But she's bonkers, she had already tried to get rid of me, and she is going to do it again. And he? Not any better. They probably share the same bed, those sick psychos. I wouldn't be surprised..."

There were no names, no specifications, just endless pages of how insane those nameless two people were and how they had managed to make Bethany's live a living hell. Toby fished out his cellphone and quickly took a few blurry pictures of the file. Steps resounded from the hall and he instantly froze. Someone came to a halt in front of the door. He intuitively packed the files back to where they belonged and exited the door. An old male with a patient robe looked at him. He was pale as a ghost and had a long, frizzy beard. He didn't say anything, just blankly stared at the young male with his hollowed eyes and thin lips. Toby's pulse slowly but surely went back to normal and he passed the man without a word. He returned the clothes and unobtrusively made his way out of the sanatorium.

**H**_**A**_**nna**

Hanna casually slipped on a freshly brewed cup of coffee, a mixture of voices and sounds she didn't really perceive, resounding from the TV in front of her. The latest revelations spiraled through her head. There were so many dots but no reasonable connection. And what was up with Caleb? After smashing her ex-boyfriend's face, he had been all anxious and freaky that the police could uncover something he did in Ravenswood. The blonde was so sick of the secrets in her proximity. After Alison's disappearance, a cascade of lies and mysteries had been triggered. People – one by one – had been buried in neighboring backyards, their secrets having been taken to their grave with them. She turned off the TV and shuffled into the kitchen to refill her cup.

When she returned to the living room, a sudden, shrill noise interrupted the soothing silence. She stood there for a few seconds, until the noise resounded again and she identified it as the doorbell. She mentally went through the work schedule of her mother, but it couldn't be her, she wouldn't be home until 8pm. With a skeptical look on her face, Hanna moved towards the front door and peeked through the spyhole. What awaited her on the other side almost made her drop her cup.

It was an overwhelmingly unfamiliar situation to sit across from_ him_ again. His impeccably clean skin glowed lightly in the kitchen light, his teeth sparkling white like in a TV commercial. He smoothed the surface of his white cashmere pullover and then folded his hands on the table. _Sean Ackard_ used to be Hanna's boyfriend about a year after Alison's disappearance. He seemed to be what others would deem as the picture-perfect boyfriend. Nice smile, good demeanor, perfect grades – however, their relationship was disturbed by a particular conflict of interest. Whilst Hanna was ready to be intimate with her boyfriend, he was participating in a no-sex-before-marriage club and it was undeniably hard to get him to change his mind. Thus after an argument between them at a party of Noel's had escalated, they broke up and never really talked to each other again. Hanna also hadn't seen him a lot in the last few months, leaving her to wonder whether he still went to Rosewood High.

"So?" She asked, driven by curiosity

"How are you?" Sean asked casually, as if appearing on her doorstep for some Smalltalk was the most normal thing to do.

"Wha...good, I am good. How are you?" Hanna couldn't really tell in which direction this conversation was going, but she was willing to play along for as long as she could contain her curiosity.

"Well, fine, I guess. Had a lot on my mind lately." He looked aside briefly, the sparkling in his eyes vanishing for the split of a second.

"I see..." An awkward silence filled the room and Hanna sipped loudly on a glass of mineral water. The ice cubes clinked against the glass when she set it down on the table again.

"Look, Hanna, there's something I need to tell you", Sean broke the silence. "I should've told you a long time ago, but I guess I wasn't ready. However, I think, you deserve the truth." He took a huge breath and continued to talk. Hanna's eyes grew wider and wider as the conversation went on.

**Spencer**

Spencer browsed through her history folder, her opened algebra book was lying a few centimeters away, showing a couple of unsolved equations. The desk lamp burned on her forehead and her eyes and head hurt from having stayed up so long. An enormous, half-empty cup of coffee sat to her right and with a frustrated grunt she threw the twentieth piece of paper from the last 10 minutes in the bin.

Studying used to be something so natural for Spencer, she had no problem with learning for 2 or 3 objects at the very same time. But with all the A-stuff going, her sister's recent revelations and her boyfriend nowhere to be found again, it was becoming an increasingly difficult challenge to concentrate. She had about 5 tests in the next week, some of them quite essential for her grade in the concerning subject. She couldn't put her future career at risk, just because of some, well, let's call them "irregularities", in her life. A Hasting was always able to work even under the most severe pressure, no excuses allowed.

She thoughtfully played with one of her pencils, assessing all the possible options she had at the moment. At last, she grabbed her phone and quickly typed in the number of Andrew Campbell.

After having set up a study date with her former colleague and rival, she went downstairs to prepare herself something to eat. While moving towards the fridge, she overheard her mother talking animatedly in the living room area. Being too curious to ignore it, Spencer inched closer and tried to perceive what her mother was talking about. However, the woman deliberately tried to keep her voice at a rather low volume. Spencer could only pick out some key words, such as her sister's and father's name. She also believed to have heard her mother addressing the person on the other line with "Detective" so it wasn't very hard to tell who she was talking to. When she realized her mother had stopped talking, she rapidly went back to the fridge and acted as if she had just arrived there. Mrs. Hastings briskly entered the room and abruptly came to a halt when she noticed her daughter standing there. Spencer's heartbeat increased but she acted as innocent as she could. Something she had learned from her parents – keeping your emotions underneath when it was necessary.

"There is a small piece of steak left in the fridge, if you're hungry", her mother said with a strangely calm voice. Then she muttered something under her breath and went upstairs.

_**A**_**ria**

When Aria woke up, she smelled the familiar scent of Ezra's perfume next to her. Silk covered her bare skin and she had goose bumps on her arms. When she touched her face she noticed that her mascara was smeared all over it. As soon as her eyes had adjusted to the darkness surrounding her, she could perceive the silhouette of a body lying next to her. Taken aback by the sudden realness of the situation, she almost jumped off the bed. She moved a few safe inches away. Ezra Fitz was lying on his stomach , his bare back rising with every breath he took, his mouth slightly agape. Every now and then he let out a satisfied sigh. Aria tried to control her breathing, her head was spinning and she tasted a mixture of Ezra and alcohol on her tongue. Had she been drunk the whole time? She only remembered Ezra finding her with the bottle in his kitchen, then he had moved closer and ... and then?

She slowly and silently climbed off the bed and hurriedly put on her clothes which were strewn all over the wooden floor. A single strip of moonlight shone through the window and illuminated parts of the room. Aria managed to make it to the door without making any loud noises. When she was outside, she let out a shaky breath she had at least been holding for a minute.

**Spencer**

After going through all the subjects Spencer had to study for, she and Andrew had decided to grant themselves a couple of drinks at a nearby bar. Spencer knew it wasn't the wisest thing to do to consume alcohol right after studying, but she needed something to take her mind off things and talking to someone who was completely unaware of the chaos in her life, seemed like a good opportunity to escape her problems for a while.

They seated themselves on the leathern bar stools and ordered two Martinis. Their conversations started off with day-to-day matters, as Andrew seemed to try very hard to avoid anything that had to do with the recent events. However, at some point they dived into more personal topics. After ordering a couple more drinks, Spencer started to talk about how her boyfriend was never around when she needed him and how he had been acting so strange and secretive the last few days. Andrew just listened patiently and provided her with another drink when her glass was empty.

At some point, Spencer felt dizziness overcoming her. She looked at her half-empty glass, then back at Andrew who was equally wasted and stared at a neon sign above the bar with a drunken smile on his face. "Esssuse me for a minute, I need to go to the toilet", she slurred and shakily walked in the direction of the sanitary installations. Andrew was still busying himself with the glowing colors of the neon sign and did not notice the hooded person behind him. Until he eventually realized the presence of someone behind him, the person was gone. He simply shrugged and ordered another drink.

Spencer looked at herself in the dirty bathroom mirror. There were a few puns and names scribbled on it with a sharpie. She hiccupped and felt her stomach tighten. The wooziness was getting to a point where it was becoming uncomfortable. She decided it was the best to go home, even though in her current state this seemed to be a mission impossible. She pushed the door open and moved towards the bar.

"Drink up", Andrew demanded with a stupid grin on his face. Spencer hesitated for a second. She knew the reasonable decision would be to deny his offer, but for some unexplainable reason her hand almost automatically reached for the glass and she downed the last half with one gulp. The sourness of the liquid hit the sensitive nerves on her tongue, rushed down her throat and spread with warmth in her stomach. "Okay, but thaass it, I need to go home."

"I'll bring you home", Andrew offered. Even though he was evidently drunk, he was still able to formulate proper sentences in marked contrast to his company. He pushed himself off the bar stool, handed the barkeeper a 100, and accompanied Spencer outside.

The cold air hit her with a sudden harshness. Despite the fact that the alcohol took away most of her temperature sensation, the coldness still went through her body like sharp icicles. Andrew noticed the girl shivering and as the gentleman he was, he put off his jacket and handed it to her.

The rest of the night went by faster than Spencer could realize it. After she had left the bar, something inside her head had obviously broken free, something she had never been aware of. Only bits of what happened had remained in her memory, but if she remembered correctly, she had went from hyperactive to close-to-sleeping-on-the-pavement in the matter of seconds. And then something else happened...

**The DiL**_**A**_**urentis Family**

A shrill noise on the door let Jason DiLaurentis almost fall out of his bed. He confusedly pushed hair strands out of his face and looked around his dark room. A few noises floated upstairs. The click of the light switch being turned on, a door being opened, voices.

He pushed himself off the bed and quickly tiptoed downstairs. The bright light in the living room burned on his retinas and he covered his face with his hands. His father stood at the window, apathetically staring outside, dressed in his pajamas and evening gown. It only took a few minutes until Alison appeared as well, her hair uncombed and her eyes rimmed with black. The sounds were soon identified as police sirens. Jason walked up next to his father.

Cars circled the Hasting's property, all of them with rotating, red lights. Police officers stood in front of the huge entrance door, waiting for ... for whom? The Hastings family was full of secrets, to be quite honest, every single one of them could be a possible target of the executive forces.

**Spencer **

Her sight was blurred and she felt like going through a psychedelic rush. Spencer clumsily climbed out of her bed and staggered towards the door. Sirens howled through the night and even though she didn't have her head on straight, she could swear they were coming from right in front of her door. She did not at all notice the body that had been lying next to her.

She rushed downstairs and was greeted by the bright light of the living room. Her mother stood a few inches away from her, but Spencer could only perceive her silhouette. Muffled voices came from every direction and the red light of police cars shone through the windows. Spencer felt her heartbeat increase and the fact that she could not tell what exactly went down at the moment frightened her even more. She could only see two people walking out of the door and then the last thing she could remember was that everything had been sucked into an endless darkness.

_**A**_

Somewhere far in the distance, completely secluded from the whole drama, a hooded person was calmly leaning back in their leathern stool, watching the camera footage of a middle-aged men being taken away by police officers.


End file.
